Truck-N-Ute Show returns with a message on road safety

The event, organised by the Lions Club of Deloraine, was largely a success, showcasing 103 different trucks 43 utes of all shapes, colours and sizes.

Lions organising committee member Brian Watson said he wanted the event to highlight the safety concerns around truck drivers.

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"We want to promote safety in the trucking industry," Mr Watson said.

"We talk to the truck drivers at days like this and they say traffic lights is where they have the most trouble.

"If they're going slow approaching the traffic light a car will duck up in front of them and they can't even see it's there."

He said tailgating was also a big issue.

"If you can't see both mirrors of the truck they can't see you and that's the main message we're trying to get across."

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On display was a large heavy mover with a vehicle in front and a motorcycle behind to demonstrate the many blind spots truck drivers have to navigate.

"It's really an eye-opener, people don't realise drivers can't see them in lots of places," Mr Watson said.

The Lions received $1000 from the Tasmanian Government's $200,000 Community Road Safety Grant program, which seeks to reduce the number of serious casualties on Tasmanian roads by supporting community involvement in developing and implementing local road safety projects to address community concern.

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Michael Ferguson said the funding helped community groups and local governments across Tasmania.

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"It will help provide small scale, local programs within their communities that will improve road safety at a grass-roots level," Mr Ferguson said.

"In Deloraine today, it's great to see one of the grant recipients in action at the Tasmanian Truck-N-Ute Show which included the truck driver blind spot display."

"The display shows the extent of truck drivers' blind spots to attendees which is a really important point to get across to the community to see things from a truck drivers point of view and to deter motorists from taking unnecessary risk around trucks."

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