Attention: NSW Caretaker Period has commenced. The caretaker period for the NSW Election commenced on 3 March 2023.  Accordingly, no ministerial press releases or related information issued by the Government from this date will be available on this website.   For copies of recently issued ministerial press releases or information on the election policies of any political party as they relate to this department/agency or its portfolio area, please go directly to the website of the relevant political party.

Centre for Road Safety

  1. NSW Centre for Road Safety
  2. Staying safe
  3. Heavy vehicles

Heavy vehicles

In 2017, there were 64 fatalities from crashes involving heavy vehicles.

Latest crash data

You can find detailed road crash data presented via interactive reports in
Heavy vehicles - Fatalities and fatal crashes.

Crashes involving heavy vehicles are often serious because of their size and weight, regardless of who is at fault. While their numbers make up only 2.5 per cent of NSW motor vehicle registrations and 8.3 per cent of kilometres travelled by all NSW vehicles, heavy vehicles are involved in about 18 per cent of all road fatalities.

The Be Truck Aware public education campaign urges all road users to take extra care around trucks.

 
in 2017, there were 297 serious injuries from crashes involving heavy vehicles

Our NSW Heavy Truck Fatal Crashes (PDF, 33Kb) has detailed information on fatalities and serious injuries involving heavy trucks.

Our safety tips for heavy vehicle drivers explain how speeding, fatigue, non-use of seatbelts and dangerous loads can lead to crashes, with heavy vehicle drivers and other road users seriously injured or killed.

Any heavy vehicle that is higher than 4.3m is considered overheight in NSW. Drivers need to make sure they know the combined height of their vehicle and its load to avoid overheight incidents.

Crash avoidance and safety technologies have helped reduce the likelihood and severity of crashes.

Licence conditions has details of some of the classifications and restrictions that apply to heavy vehicle drivers.

Transport for NSW recently trialled the effectiveness of the Fresnel lens in minimising passenger side blind spots on heavy vehicles and heavy vehicle driver attitudes towards using the lens.

Monitoring compliance

You can find details of how road transport laws regarding heavy vehicles are enforced and monitored on the Transport for NSW website.

Construction Logistics and Community Safety - Australia (CLOCS-A)

We’re a Founding Partner of the Construction Logistics and Community Safety – Australia (CLOCS-A) program.

CLOCS-A is a national approach for managing the risks around construction projects. With increased construction across NSW, CLOCS-A is designed to provide a consistent framework for industry to help improve road safety. It’s a priority area of our 2026 Road Safety Action Plan to increase the safety of heavy vehicles through the support of CLOCS-A.

Find out more at CLOCS-A.