InsTRUCKta! Virtual Reality road safety lessons with Rob Sharpe

The number of trucks on WA  roads is set to double within the decade and triple by 2050.  In fact we'd all  come to a stop if it wasn’t for the work of our amazing truck drivers carting everything from milk to machinery across our vast state.  

 So it’s really important as drivers that we know how to share our roads safely with trucks.

Rob Sharpe of Transafe and InsTRUCKta! has traversed more than 1.4 million kms as a truckie and he’s had a birds eye view of more than his fair share of close calls and crazy risk taking, by cars trying to squeeze their way ahead of a truck. 

 So it’s no wonder that he is a huge advocate for road safety.

Transafe WA is a not for profit organisation and Instrucka is its big purple semi-trailer decked out with virtual reality simulations and engaging tools to teach young and old how to interact safely with trucks.

Warm thanks to:
Sponsor: Females Over Forty-five Fitness in Victoria Park
Sound Engineering: Damon Sutton
Music: William A Spence
... and all our generous and inspiring guests around the warm table this season!

Transcript

Sonia Nolan: 0:00

Welcome to My Warm Table. I'm Sonia Nolan and season two of this podcast about passion and purpose is brought to you by Females Over 45 Fitness or FOFF, in Victoria Park.

Introductory Voice Over of Previous Guests: 0:14

My name is Kate Chaney. My name is Bonnie Davies. My name is Madeleine King. My name is Valerio Fantinelli. My name is Lyn Beazley. My name is Alexandra Helen Flanagan Hi, my name is Sharon Todd. My name is Lucy Cooke and I'm the CEO of SpaceDraft. I'm the first Aboriginal female funeral director. CEO and founder of Motion by the Ocean. I'm a psychologist and a professor in psychology at Curtin University. CEO and founder of Lionheart Camp for Kids. Around My Warm Table. Or listening on Sonia Nolan's My Warm Table. Just sharing a yarn with her.

Sonia Nolan: 0:36

Western Australia would come to a stop if it wasn't for the work of our amazing truck drivers cutting everything from milk to machinery across our vast state. I've always had a very deep respect for truckies when I see them on the road, their imposing loads and big rigs commanding the lane, and we're gonna see more and more trucks on our roads. In fact, projections tip that the numbers are going to double in the next nine years and treble by 2050. So it's really important as drivers that we know how to share our roads safely with trucks. And that's where today's Warm Table guest Rob Sharpee comes in. Rob has traversed more than 1.4 million kilometres as a truckie and he's had a bird's eye view of more than his fair share of close calls and crazy risk taking by big and small cars and motorbikes, literally trying to squeeze their way ahead of a truck. So it's no wonder that he's a huge advocate for Road Safety and it's become his passion and purpose. Rob has also got a business development and management background. So he was the ideal choice to head up Transafe WA and its innovative project InsTRUCKta! Transafe WA is a non for profit organisation and InsTRUCKta! is its big purple semitrailer decked out with virtual reality simulations and engaging tools to teach young and old how to interact safely with trucks. You'll usually find Rob at a community fair or an industry event or at a school somewhere in WA with his big purple instructor vehicle. But today, though, I'm so pleased that Rob is joining me around the Warm Table to tell us more about how we can share our roads safely. Welcome, Rob.

Rob Sharpe: 2:19

Thank you. I'm very glad to be here at the Warm Table.

Sonia Nolan: 2:22

It's so good to reconnect, Rob. Really good to reconnect because I've heard the excitement of InsTRUCKta! as it's been building and you've been waiting for it to arrive. And and now it's absolutely fully fledged now in the universe of WA teaching road safety.

Rob Sharpe: 2:38

Yes, thank you. It's really good to have it out there on the road. We've- we launched in January this year. And it's already been to an excess of 20 events around the WA, Metro and regional areas.

Sonia Nolan: 2:50

Yeah, you've been busy, haven't you?

Rob Sharpe: 2:51

Certainly have. Thankfully, we've now got a driver full time for that vehicle. So InsTRUCKta's out and about and I can just lend a hand as a volunteer.

Sonia Nolan: 3:02

Yeah. But what were the first couple of months like when you were actually starting getting InsTRUCKta! out there?

Rob Sharpe: 3:07

It was, it was a challenge, give you an idea, I was looking for an exit from the transport industry as a driver. And I found myself looking for alternative, alternative employment. Because I just didn't feel safe as a truck driver anymore, the roads were getting more and more dangerous out there with interactions with light vehicles. So when I actually saw that Transafe WA were building the InsTRUCKta safety truck, I thought that's a really well worth project to get on board with. So I suppose that was a catalyst to me getting out of a truck as a driver and trying to make a difference. As a road safety advocate.

Sonia Nolan: 3:46

Yeah, look there's so there's so much within that, Rob, that I really want to understand because - so you talk about not feeling safe as a truckie so, is it every day you're seeing something happen?

Rob Sharpe: 3:56

Absolutely. You're surrounded by people who don't understand what a truck driver has to go through with. With regards to the space we need, braking distances that we need to, to pull up safely. And I suppose just the whole, the overtaking, the cutting in, the blind spots that people are not aware of, as well. So there's just so many things out there that were happening on a daily basis that really puts you into a position where you think "I've just had enough." So there's a lot of people that are hanging up the keys as well for the same reason. And I suppose my catalyst to go over to Transafe was to try and change that. As a driver, you can only change your behaviour on the road. Whereas as a road safety advocate, you have the chance to try and impart some knowledge to a greater amount of people and get them doing the right thing around the truckies and hopefully we'll stop the the exodus of good experienced drivers from the industry as well.

Sonia Nolan: 4:54

Yeah, so there's so much that instructor is here to do. So it's to change the workplace for truckies, because of course also, you know, this is something that you know, you've taught me, that the workplace for a truckie is the road, you know. Our workplaces, may be an office, it might be an industry or you know, whatever our offices or workplaces look like. But as a truckie, your workplace is actually the road.

Rob Sharpe: 5:15

That's correct. And yeah, your workplace is the road, your cabin is your office, it's your bedroom. It's everything for the truck drivers as well. And there's a lot of truck drivers out there that are spending multiple nights per week in their truck. So it is everything like you say it's their workplace. It's their, their bedroom.

Sonia Nolan: 5:32

Mm, yeah so actually making sure that it's a safe workplace, which everybody wants a safe workplace is not unreasonable.

Rob Sharpe: 5:39

No that's right. And we all deserve to, to go to work and to come home safely from that, from that job as well.

Sonia Nolan: 5:45

Yeah, absolutely. So tell me what some of the main issues of road safety involving trucks and other vehicles are.

Rob Sharpe: 5:54

I suppose, and this goes back to what we're teaching people with InsTRUCKta, is we're making them more aware of the trucks blind spots. So trucks are big. Even though we sit up nice and high, there's a lot of areas beside our truck, in front of the truck. And also behind where we don't, we can't actually see those vehicles in that area or pedestrians in that area or bike riders in that area. So we're teaching people about blind spots. We're also teaching people about how to interact at intersections where a truck is turning, for example, trucks are legally allowed to turn from the second or even the third lane to execute left or right turn. And the reason for that is that we're quite long, we've got one or two trailers, and those trailers will actually cut corners as we turn so the prime mover will take one route, and the trailers being being towed will actually cut those corners. So we're making people aware that when we're turning not to come up on the inside and into our blind spot. We're also teaching people how to interact safely when they're overtaking as well. So we're teaching them that double white lines are not to be crossed, hills, around corners, and all those sorts of things. So unless you can see...

Sonia Nolan: 7:08

These are standard things that we should know, right, Rob?

Rob Sharpe: 7:10

Yes, that's right, we should know.

Sonia Nolan: 7:11

Okay so it's a refresher. We'll be kind - lets say it's a refresher.

Rob Sharpe: 7:14

And, you know, as a truck driver, you see so many situations where the truck driver can't see forward safely to, you know, to work out whether there's cars coming, whether it be a corner or a blind hill, and we've still got people behind us attempting to overtake or to have a look to see whether it's safe to overtake. So, in that scenario, you know, I always say to people, if there's a broken line, then that is a safe indication that if there's no oncoming that's a nice spot to pass. When it's a double white line, it's not a safe spot to pass. So there's no point even having a look to see whether there is oncoming vehicles.

Sonia Nolan: 7:50

I think everyone's got this sort of misnomer that no one wants to get stuck behind a truck.

Rob Sharpe: 7:54

Yeah, that's right. And, and we always want to be in front of a truck because you know, the the view from behind our trucks, not all that attractive, let's face it. But yeah, there's just that human, human need to be in front of a truck. Or not to be sitting behind a truck going slow. So the truck driver out there is, you know, he's driving, he's a professional. So if you're behind them, obviously not too close, obviously, you know, back far enough that you can avoid any obstacles that the truck might have passed over, whether that be a dead kangaroo or wildlife on the road. So it's always safe to hold back a little bit. And allow yourself some braking distance.

Sonia Nolan: 8:32

And give everyone some space. I think that's part of the rules, isn't it?

Rob Sharpe: 8:36

Yeah, and that's what we're pushing for is just more space, more appreciation and consideration on the road for truckies. I mean, it's their work, it's their workplace. They're not on holidays. Most times, they've got a deadline, you know, they're trying to get from A to B in time for their fatigue breaks and everything else as well.

Sonia Nolan: 8:53

Yeah, yeah, so a bit of a bit of respect for the truckies

Rob Sharpe: 8:55

Absolutely.

Sonia Nolan: 8:57

So tell me about InsTRUCKta because that, you know, that's just a game changer, isn't it?

Rob Sharpe: 9:02

It is, so InsTRUCKta- I suppose I'll take it back a little bit. There was a pilot programme back in 2016, where Transafe WA brought the Australian Trucking Association's safety truck over to Western Australia. And we had it here in 2016, and from that pilot programme, it was decided that we would translate, would build a safety truck of our own, so we'd have a dedicated Western Australian safety truck. For five years later, all the funding, grant funding was secured to initially get it off the ground and get it built. And so the truck is now built, launched on 25th of January this year, t's out and about on the roads and it's designed to teach our current and future road users how to interact safely with trucks and heavy vehicles. And when I say heavy vehicles that also includes buses and horse floats and and other vehicles.

Sonia Nolan: 9:55

Caravan?

Rob Sharpe: 9:56

Caravans, so yeah, technically they're classing into that heavy vehicle status I mean they don't stop as well as a normal standard car, they are longer, they are wider. So yeah, they would, they would fit into that category as well.

Sonia Nolan: 10:10

And just run me through what instructor looks like because it's a bit beautiful

Rob Sharpe: 10:14

It is. So the colour purple wrapped with it.

Sonia Nolan: 10:17

Yeah, any Dockers fans will love it.

Rob Sharpe: 10:19

Or Cadbury chocolate fans.

Sonia Nolan: 10:21

Oh look, two of my favourite things. Gee, that's long.

Rob Sharpe: 10:23

Absolutely. So the trailer itself, it's a Sitrak It is, yep. So it takes up a fair bit of space on prime mover, which has been kindly supplied by Sitrak Australia for our use. So that's bright purple, it's been wrapped. We've also, or the trailer itself is wrapped as the road. But at community events, we open it up, we've got well in purple and curiosity evoking colour scheme. And that trailer is a custom built trailer that double expands out to almost nine metres wide, the whole units 19 metres long. a nice set of stairs that access the trailer. And inside that trailer, we've got 10 truck seats, and on those trucks seats, we've got VR headsets. So we seat our participants on the truck seats, put their seatbelt on, we then feed them with a set of virtual reality goggles. And then we immerse them into the cabinet of a prime mover. So the same prime mover that tows the trailer.

Sonia Nolan: 11:16

So they are pretending to be a truckie.

Rob Sharpe: 11:18

They are, yeah, so they're getting an in cab view of trucks blind spots, they can see the mirrors, they can look up and see the UHF, you know, handpiece above them, they can see the seat beside them, they can look around inside the cabin of the truck. And then also they're looking into the mirrors and we're directing them through a through an audio commands, I suppose, to look in the left mirror, look in the right mirror, and they see what the truck driver can and can't see. What we then do is we remove parts of the cabin through virtual reality. And we give them a look through the cabin through the metal of the cabin to see that there's a for example, lady with a pram walking past the front of the truck, which you know, she's totally obscured because of her position in front of the truck. So we do all those sorts of things to try and give the participant a real solid view of what the truck driver can and can't see. We also then pull them up out of the truck seat into an aerial view from from above, which is quite, quite frightening for some people when all sudden the truck disappears and they're floating up in the sky. But we do that to give them a better view of our - or more spatial awareness in that view, so they can actually see the distance around the vehicle where people are, let's say hiding in the blind spots.

Sonia Nolan: 12:35

Do you have a simulation where you've got a car trying to cut in in front of the truck?

Rob Sharpe: 12:40

We do. Inside the - or with the VR we've actually got four experiences. So we cover the trucks blind spots, we cover overtaking, we cover the trucks turning, and also cutting in front of trucks as well.

Sonia Nolan: 12:54

So they've got those four opportunities to have a look through the lens, literally the lens of what it would be like to be a truckie. And what are some of the- whats some of the feedback, what do they say when they come out of that experience?

Rob Sharpe: 13:07

Look, the feedbacks been really good. You know, general consensus is that everyone agrees that it should actually be taught to all of our future drivers and the majority of our current road users as well. So one of the one of the key learnings I suppose is, is that people see the do not overtake turning vehicle signs on the back of a heavy vehicle. But they don't actually understand that, that means the truck is over 7.5 metres long, and they're legally allowed to turn from the second or third lane to execute a left or right turn. So that's one of the learnings that comes from our experience and the other one is the trucks blind spots. A lot of people aren't aware that we have these large blind spots around the trucks cabinet and around the trailer.

Sonia Nolan: 13:49

So worthwhile. People probably come out of there with a whole bunch of"Ah-ha!" moments. I did not realise that that was the case.

Rob Sharpe: 13:56

That's correct. Yep. So it's definitely a worthwhile experience to for people to, to have a look at. Inside the trailer we've also got 10 tablets that are wall mounted. And they've got for different age group appropriate quiz learnings in there as well. So whether it be five to seven years old or 16 plus, they can select an age appropriate level and then they go through a different lot of questions, which cover road rules and interactions with heavy vehicles and, and so on. We've also got a short throw projector which projects onto the back wall of the trailer on the inside. And that covers everything from mobile phone use to roundabouts and merging and other Western Australian road rules. So quite a lot of information.

Sonia Nolan: 14:42

There's a lot going on in that truck, isn't there?

Rob Sharpe: 14:44

There is. And then we also give our participants the opportunity to climb into the actual cabinet of the truck. And then they can sit in there, they can have a look around and see firsthand looking at the the mirrors and seeing the blind spots. And what we're also trying to do on top of the actual safety side of things, we're actually trying to encourage people into the industry and to look at a professional truck driving as a career. And which, because we are trying to get, we're trying to cover the shortfall that we're going to end up with, as far as truck drivers are concerned,

Sonia Nolan: 15:14

Well, if the numbers stack up, like you know, like I said in my intro, that it's going to double by the next nine years and what treble by 2050 That's a lot of trucks and that's a lot of truck drivers that you're going to need.

Rob Sharpe: 15:26

That's right, and we're looking for good truck drivers and people that are passionate about being a professional truck driver. It's, it's, it's quite a good job, you know, you get to look out the window and get to travel to different places every day. Listen to podcasts and audiobooks and all those important things as well.

Sonia Nolan: 15:42

And in fact, tell me a little bit about your truck driving because I know you used to do the milk run down to Esperance.

Rob Sharpe: 15:48

I did

Sonia Nolan: 15:48

And every now and then the occasional choc-milk didn't make it.

Rob Sharpe: 15:51

Iced coffees.

Sonia Nolan: 15:52

Iced coffees, there you go.

Rob Sharpe: 15:53

Guilty as charged. So I drove for near on 10 years from Perth to Esperance delivering milk and also delivering milk in between and doing a bit of a milk run on the way home. So I would call into places like Hopetown and Bremer Bay and so on until I had delivered all the orders. I was leaving Perth on a Monday coming back on a Tuesday leaving Perth again on a Thursday and coming back on a on a Friday. So only four days a week, but longer hours than a normal office job. And you know, I'll say 1.4 million kilometres in, in that time period. So saw my fair share of silly behaviour on the road.

Sonia Nolan: 16:31

Is there one that stands out the most that you just sort of like really can't believe that people were that silly.

Rob Sharpe: 16:38

I've had situations where I've been in town watching a car for 15 seconds waiting at an intersection. And when I was less than 25 metres away, the car pulled out of the intersection and crossed the road. And there was quite - I'd been watching this car for quite some time. And I was just baffled that it decided that very last minute just to pull out. So there's some crazy stuff out there. Caravan, as you know, are a bit of a problem on the road at times when they travel in, in convoy together. And don't leave enough gap for truck drivers to delete from each car and Caravan safely. Even when there's four or five of them travelling nose to tail. There's there's no way we can get past. But the list would go on.

Sonia Nolan: 17:23

We have a whole podcast series about it, couldn't we? Yeah, exactly, right. So just on that though, I did want to just note a statistic that I did read, which talked about 80% of fatal accidents involving cars and trucks in Australia are deemed to be the fault of the car driver and not the heavy vehicle driver. And that's, you know, data from October 2020. That really does show that you know that drivers do need to be better educated because it is a life or death at times,

Rob Sharpe: 17:53

it is for sure. And the light vehicle drivers are the vulnerable drivers. They're the the vulnerable road users. It's the to the truckies that are more well protected in their in their cabins. But it's definitely an alarming statistic. It is starting to drop, we're finding that it used to be around 80%. It is coming down into the lower 70s which is also slightly alarming that we're either getting better, better car drivers out there all we're getting less safe truck drivers out there. And I think some of those statistics are - there's explanations for them, I guess. Truck drivers leave a nice gap or a safe distance from the vehicle in front. And then the bigger gap they leave, the more cars jump into that gap.

Sonia Nolan: 18:36

Oh, it just fills up, doesn't it? They go "Great! Fantastic, he's left a spot."

Rob Sharpe: 18:39

Exactly. And so what what sort of is happening in the industry is truck drivers are leaving a little bit less gap there. And that can be a contributing factor to you know, a rear ending into a car because they haven't left enough gap there or a cars jumped into that gap.

Sonia Nolan: 18:56

It's like damned if you do and damned if you don't, isn't it? Yeah, tricky, very tricky.

Rob Sharpe: 19:02

You're listening to My Warm Table podcast. My name is Rob Sharpe. And my conversation with Sonia is all about Transafe WA and our road safety initiatives.

Sonia Nolan: 19:11

So we've talked quite a bit about InsTRUCKta which is great, and I can't wait to see it. I was I was hoping we'd be able to record this podcast in the InsTRUCKta, but you did say that the air conditioning is probably a bit too noisy for us to do that. So I'm still waiting to actually see the InsTRUCKta. But you know, in real life, I've only seen photos and videos of it. So you're at community fairs, at industry events, at school. So tell me what you do. So thank you to everyone who's supporting or

Rob Sharpe: 19:36

So we take it out to like you say, schools and maybe wants to support InsTRUCKta and Transafe WA. community events also industry events as well. So whether it be a Coca Cola Open Day or a Boral open day that we've got planned for this weekend coming up. We take that to schools and community events. The schools are where we really want to tap into because that's where our our future road users are, our 16 our 17 year old Keys for Life programmes That's where we want to really tap into that market. Unfortunately, at the moment being a not for profit organisation, we are industry funded for different events we go to so whether it be Great Southern Fuels who have recently sponsored us to be at Daron and also Newdegate Field Days. We are looking for sponsorship that gives us the funding that we can then choose to go to the schools as well. Yeah, that's correct. We've got all of our safety partners and sponsors on our trailer. We've got them all their stickers and logos on there. So we also promote them through our social media platforms as well. But yeah, just saying a reattribution, even again, without these safety partners, without these guys, you know, we wouldn't have a truck to tow it around, we wouldn't have the financial support to go out to schools and other different places around our regional and metropolitan areas. We wouldn't be able to be out there on the road.

Sonia Nolan: 21:02

Yeah. And it's so important that you are out there on the road. That's correct. Tell me about Transafe WA then, obviously InsTRUCKta is just one exciting, innovative project. But what else does Transafe WA do?

Rob Sharpe: 21:14

So Transafe WA was founded by the late Mr. Steve Post in 2014. It's a not for profit industry initiative with the vision of aiding the delivery of safer transport industry workplaces, and by fostering and promoting safe work practices. So we deliver events and projects for both the road transport industry and the general public, focused on safer heavy vehicle interactions and operations. We also do road safety forums as well. So we've got a Road Safety Forum, planned for Esperance, later in the year, and we do regional and also metropolitan Road Safety Forum. So these Forums, we talk about different industry initiatives, different technology that's available to make the road safer, and also other support agencies that help along the way, whether that be injury matters or you know, Walga Roadwise and different other organisations that we invite along to inform our participants about the forum's.

Sonia Nolan: 22:12

Are you part of that? It's held at the RAC arena every year eleven and twelve kids.

Rob Sharpe: 22:21

We haven't been, but that's one of my challenges is to touch base with those guys and get involved with the - I think it's the Street Smart RAC.

Sonia Nolan: 22:30

It's so powerful, so powerful, both of my kids went along to see that and it is absolutely powerful. And like you've said, you know, trying to get into the hearts and minds of the, you know, 16 and 17 year old, you know, young people who are just about to get that freedom of their licence and their plates and their cars and, you know, sort of heart attacks for their parents who were just, you know, so anxious about, you know, knowing the road is not always a safe place, and yet with inexperienced drivers, so yeah, so that's, it's amazing what they do. Yeah.

Rob Sharpe: 23:02

And that's, that's one of our problems, as well. All of our new drivers, they get the keys and the first thing they want to do is a road trip. And most of the popular destinations that they want to go to, are also shared by heavy haulage. So that in itself causes a problem, they underestimate the length of these trucks, some of our trucks in the northern part of Western Australia up to 60 metres long. So it's a inexperienced drivers nightmare to try and pass one of those trucks and overtaking is where we're seeing a lot of our problems as well.

Sonia Nolan: 23:35

Overtaking Of course, yeah. What about things like texting while they're driving? And, you know, and I'm not just saying young people either here, I'm just saying, you know, are they some of the issues that you see regularly that Transafe is really trying to crack down on?

Rob Sharpe: 23:50

Yeah, look it's driver distraction, and that, whether that be mobile phone use or distraction from your passengers in your vehicle, or whatever it might be - driver distraction is a big problem. And we see that on a regular basis.

Sonia Nolan: 24:05

So what do you suggest? If you've got a small child in the car who is very distracting? For example, what what do you suggest regarding driver distraction, there's obviously stuff you can minimise and totally eliminate by you know, don't use your phone and all the rest. But are there things you suggest?

Rob Sharpe: 24:24

Definitely put your phone down, all that can wait. There's nothing more important than getting there safely. And with your, with your children in the car as well, you know, there are times when that distraction has to be ignored. You just need to drive safely. And if you need to pull over, you know, sort out your distraction and get back on the road.

Sonia Nolan: 24:42

We've talked about young drivers just getting their licence and you want to be part of that case case for life sort of experience. But I know you've also got a goal about the hazard perception test.

Rob Sharpe: 24:52

Sonia, one of our goals is to actually get the interactions with trucks into the hazard perception test. And that way we're teaching our future road users on how to interact safely with trucks. Unfortunately, the hazard perception test does not teach them anything around heavy vehicle interactions. So it's one of our goals is to get it into every licencing centre in WA.

Sonia Nolan: 25:12

Yeah, that sounds great. Because at the moment, what does the hazard perception test cover? Gravel, or is it night driving, what sort of stuff is in there?

Rob Sharpe: 25:20

No, none of that. So it's basically all about passing your test and the things you need to know whether it be a ball rolling across the road and having to brake at the right time for that ball going across the road. And there could be a child following it. So it's, it's fairly basic in terms. It's not not broad for our regional and our road experience here in WA.

Sonia Nolan: 25:43

Okay, well, good luck with that goal, Rob, because I think that's a good one. I think that makes a lot of sense. I'm so excited that this is a new, a new role for you in the sense of having been a truckie and done the hard yards and the many miles there and your experience that you were able to bring and also your professional experience in business and management. You know, you really are in my view, the ideal person to be promoting Transafe safe road policies and and you know, action.

Rob Sharpe: 26:15

From a truck drivers point of view, I can empathise with what they go through on a daily basis. And I can actually, with my background, I suppose look at the different initiatives that we can develop, to make the truck drivers life safer, and more enjoyable, and, and also protecting our vulnerable road users.

Sonia Nolan: 26:36

You said earlier, Rob, that, you know, where we want to travel is often in the regions and go to all these lovely holiday spots that we've got around Western Australia. But you know, are our regional roads as good or as safe as our city roads?

Rob Sharpe: 26:52

Sonia, the roads in the country areas are sometimes more hazardous because we've got wildlife and other different road conditions that make it more challenging. Rural road crashes account for more than 65% of the Australian road toll. The rate of serious road related injury in rural areas is nearly twice as high as as what it is in the cities

Sonia Nolan: 27:16

Oh gosh, twice as high. That's a lot. And what 65%, it accounts for 65% of the whole Australian road toll.

Rob Sharpe: 27:23

Yes.

Sonia Nolan: 27:23

That's - that's not just Western Australia, though, the regions, that's regions around Australia?

Rob Sharpe: 27:28

That's correct, that's describing it more.

Sonia Nolan: 27:29

Wow.

Rob Sharpe: 27:30

So as mentioned, high referral roads are used by 91% of Australians at least once a year.

Sonia Nolan: 27:39

And that allocates you know, it goes down to holiday time, right? If you use it once that Yeah. Okay. So you're driving in I'm sorry, I'm just sort of thinking, my brains ticking over here. So we're, obviously we're off on holiday. We're all excited. But we're driving in unfamiliar territory, really, aren't we?

Rob Sharpe: 27:54

That's correct, they're new roads to us.

Sonia Nolan: 27:55

They are new roads. It's not something that we do every day. And we've got excited kids in the car, or we've got, you know, maybe the family dogs in there as well, and off you go. And you're no doubt with a whole bunch of other people who are using the road for the first time again, for a long time.

Rob Sharpe: 28:10

Yep, and you've got truck drivers on those roads that are very familiar with those roads. They know where they're going and what they're doing. It's the vulnerable road users that have the challenge on the road.

Sonia Nolan: 28:21

Yeah that's right, exactly. Right. Sorry, you were gonna share some more statistics with me.

Rob Sharpe: 28:25

So traffic injury is the biggest killer of Australian Children under 15. And the second biggest killer of all Australians aged between 15 and 24. So these numbers are growing every year, but are preventable. If we all drive to or drive as well as survive, I guess. The state government's goal is to get to a zero row tall, which is, you know, it's achievable. But we've just got to all be more considerate on the road.

Sonia Nolan: 28:55

So give us some tips. Rob, give us some tips about how we can all be more considerate on the road.

Rob Sharpe: 29:01

Okay, from a truck and light vehicle interactions side of things. I suppose drivers should always wait for the right opportunity to safely overtake a truck, even if it means being extra patient and using overtaking lane when it becomes available.

Sonia Nolan: 29:15

So that word"patient" I think is key, isn't it?

Rob Sharpe: 29:18

It is yeah.

Sonia Nolan: 29:18

And we're not good at that. But that is just absolutely key.

Rob Sharpe: 29:22

And don't be tempted to risk to get to your destination a little bit earlier. Because if you try and overtake at the wrong time, you may not get there at all.

Sonia Nolan: 29:29

Yeah, that's right. And you know, in reality, you might get there five minutes earlier, three minutes, you know, it's really actually not, it's negligible, like how much early you're gonna get there.

Rob Sharpe: 29:39

And you might be surprised as to what you actually see on the side of the road and the scenery that you might enjoy a little bit better if you're around not in so much of a rush.

Sonia Nolan: 29:47

It's so true, isn't it? And there are so many picturesque places that you know, stop and enjoy and you know, it's the journey, not the destination, really, isn't it?

Rob Sharpe: 29:56

Yeah, enjoy the road trip. And we find as humans, I suppose we want everyone in front to hurry up, and we want everyone behind us to be patient. And therein lies half our problems on the road. So we just need to be a bit more courteous.

Sonia Nolan: 30:10

So true. It's funny, I remember, having this conversation with my husband and his brothers and their family of big road trip, you know, they always went camping on holidays growing up and always off you know, sort of off they go, and they'd leave early, and they'd arrive and, and the dad was not- my father, beautiful father - but he was not a stopper, as they would call it. Say, not a stopper, just get in there and you just keep going till you get to your destination. And Paul and his brothers, so my husband and his brothers, were talking about them all going now with their families on holidays. And they turned to Paul and they said, "Oh, have you become a stopper? Oh, my gosh, you stop?" and we go to the bakery and we stop here and we you know, plan the trip according to our stops. In fact, we plan our trips, according to the bakeries, right? And, and everyone was just amazed the family was amazed at that he was actually a stopper that he was actually going to stop and enjoy the whole journey and they've all become stoppers. All become stoppers.

Rob Sharpe: 31:10

Yes. Sonia, I grew up in the passenger side of a truck. My father was a contractor. And we didn't stop very often. So when he did stop, it was definitely a treat for the bladder and also for the belly. So yeah, we didn't stop very much as well. So I think we're dad fit into the same, same category.

Sonia Nolan: 31:28

I wonder if it's a generational thing then. I don't know. I don't know. But I guess we've still got the same issues, haven't we?

Rob Sharpe: 31:33

We have. Yeah, for sure.

Sonia Nolan: 31:35

So become a stopper, stop and enjoy the ride. Give your bladder a break, get a treat from a local bakery and then really enjoy the road trip. Like you've said.

Rob Sharpe: 31:44

That's the plan.

Sonia Nolan: 31:45

Yeah. Great. Oh, Rob, thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure to have you around the Warm Table.

Rob Sharpe: 31:49

Thank you, Sonia. It's been my pleasure to be here on your Warm Table.

Sonia Nolan: 31:53

Fantastic. Thanks for joining me Sonia Nolan around the Warm Table. Let's grow the community. Please

Kelli Reilly FOFF: 31:58

Hi ladies, it's Kelli here, creator and follow My Warm Table podcast on socials and like and share this episode with your family and friends. My Warm Table is brought to you by Females Over 45 Fitness. Keep listening now for a health tip from FOFF head coach Kelli Reilly. head coach of Females Over 45 Fitness. Testosterone levels. Do you know your levels? Because as we age, our testosterone levels drop. Now testosterone helps build muscle and burn calories. So this hormone imbalance leads to muscle loss and also lowers your metabolism. So doing strength training, we need to help build muscle mass up so that we can burn more calories. Okay, so ladies, it's your time to shine.