A heartbroken widow has broken her silence to call for better training for HGV drivers after a horror accident claimed the lives of her husband and two other lorry drivers.
Delphine Mugridge’s husband Neville, 77, was a much-loved truck driver who lost his life in a fiery head-on collision between his truck and another on South Australia’s Eyre Highway on April 4 at the edge of the Plain. Nullarbor.
Victorian truck driver Yadwinder Singh Bhatti and another 25-year-old New South Wales man also died in the crash.
Mrs Mugridge has launched a petition calling for truck drivers to have more experience to qualify to pilot large trucks.
“Ultimately I think it would be best to do an internship or an apprenticeship,” said Mrs Mugridge. nine news.
Delphine Mugridge’s husband Neville, 77, died two weeks ago in a fiery lorry crash on the Eyre Highway.
The grieving widow is still struggling to come to terms with what happened to her husband.
“Sometimes I think, ‘Oh, he’ll just come home, he’s too good a driver,'” she said.
“And other times I realize he’s not coming home.”
Mudgidge described her late husband as a loyal father and grandfather and a legend to other truckers.
Nicknamed Slim, he left 20 children, stepchildren and grandchildren.
“He was very compassionate,” his wife remembers.
‘If you had him as a friend you had him for life.’
He launched the petition on Thursday, which had already gathered 3,000 signatures by the following night.
Mugridge says her husband’s death has severely shaken the entire trucking industry.
He said the tragedy “has sparked a huge response from all truckers across Australia, highlighting the dangerous operation of some drivers on the road”.
“A large number of drivers are thinking about hanging up their boots and wondering who will be next to die,” the petition states.
“Too often, inexperienced drivers cause near misses and fatalities.”
Ms Mugridge has asked drivers to prove they have held Class C regular car, light rigid and medium rigid car licenses for one year each before obtaining a heavy vehicle licence.
For heavy truck and multiple combination permits, you also want proven driving experience in lower categories.
Mugridge, affectionately known as “Slim”, was a legend in the Australian truck driving industry.
The violent accident in a remote area of the Eyre Highway that killed Mugridge and two other people
“This will ensure that foreign drivers can no longer enter Australia and obtain heavy vehicle licenses without following the previous guidelines, making the roads safer for everyone traveling on the highways,” he writes.
The petition is supported by South African Road Transport Association chief executive Steve Shearer.
“I think one of the benefits of the petition could be putting pressure on governments to move,” he told Nine News.
“What we have talked about here in Canberra at the national conference is much broader and will be based on experience.”
Mr Mugridge’s funeral will be held in Gawler next Friday.
Neville (right) leaves behind his wife Delphine (left) along with 20 children, stepchildren and grandchildren.