Focus
Suicide by truck (SBT) – We need to talk about this
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here is a real human being here… I’m not an extension of this truck. I am a living, breathing human being and what you are about to do involves me.” This is the message that Australian truck drivers want the public to understand when it comes to Suicide by truck (SBT). When a person takes their own life, more than one life is destroyed. Family, friends, neighbours, employers and co-workers are devastated but if suicide victim involves a stranger in their demise, the results can be even more damaging and far reaching. Forcing a stranger to kill you with his/her vehicle, is something that truck drivers don't want to think about however, not discussing, reporting nor collecting any data is obviously not working in bringing an awareness to how this affects those in the transport industry who are exposed to it. According to Headspace, evidence of a suicide contagion’ effect relating to inappropriate media coverage of suicide may have contributed to a fear of talking about it. Obviously, it is important ‘how’ the media reports this, but Headspace clearly says, “Talking about it will not ‘plant’ the idea in their head”. Headspace also points out that not every suicide is preventable.
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WATM • August 2021
The difficulty of reporting on this subject is related to ‘how’ it was done for fear of copy cats. However, is the main stream media reporting that vilifies the truck driver a fair and responsible approach? It is also hard to prove SBT unless there is a verbal forewarning or note proving that that someone intentionally drove their vehicle directly into the path of a moving truck or stepped in front of it. It is also hard to prove SBT unless there is a verbal forewarning or note proving that that someone intentionally drove their vehicle directly into the path of a moving truck or stepped in front of it. Often, the resulting death is categorised as an unfortunate accident by the authorities. However, in many incidences, suicide is the only reason that makes sense when everything else is logically ruled out. What most people find hard to understand is ‘why’ someone would take their life and involve a stranger. In an article in Australian Psychiatry entitled “Suicide and murder-suicide involving automobiles” it was noted that driver suicide may be chosen for the sake of family and friends – in order to look like an accident. In researching this story, we reached out to support organisations and could not
find any ‘public’ information or resources for helping the public understand the consequences of SBT or support for truck driver who had experienced it. With a long term assumption that the risk of sharing information about suicide inadvertently leads to more deaths discounts the wider effects and impact on the living – and in particular, the truck drivers who experience it. If SBT is not talked about, and specifically how it affects the ‘innocent’ stranger involved then how can the public be educated to think of the consequences of who it affects beforehand? And where does this leave the truck driver who has had their life forever altered, and not for the better? The common thread that ensues is that these drivers leave the industry and for the few that are willing or able to talk about it publicly they say the incident has forever altered their trust in people. They struggle with the event, many for the rest of their lives - taking away from them one of the things they loved the most – driving. Many report anxiety that it is going to happen again. Depression, guilt, shame, fear, flash backs, sleeplessness, nightmares, hallucinations…
