The recent pileup on the Brice highway near Miriam Vale involving 5 trucks, some of them B doubles and a couple of ambulances has been blamed on poor visibility due to heavy fog and smoke. Several truck drivers were taken to hospital, one with life threatening injuries and the Bruce Highway was closed for almost 24 hours. We wish all drivers involved the very best recoveries.
I asked lifelong truckie Nick Taylor for a few tips on managing foggy conditions and he said this:
"Having driven this section of road countless times... oversize... B Doubles... singles... it is well known to be a treacherous road any time but fog would have to be the worst time of all.
So, how do we reduce the hazard?
- Communication - ie UHF - talk to each other
- Appropriate lights for fog
- Definitely slow down somewhat, but don't stop unless well off the road in a safe place
- It is certainly not a place for tired drivers
Unfortunately with delivery and financial pressures these days, most of us must soldier on."
(Desert Dog in no way implies that any of these measures were not taken or would have resulted in a different outcome in this incident. We do believe that taking safety measures does reduce the risk of accidents happening)