Grieving widow's push leads to truck driver safety overhaul in South Australia

The South Australian government has announced an overhaul of truck driver training regulations after a grieving widow, who lost her husband in a horror crash, led the charge to improve safety.

Delphine Mugridge lost her husband "Slim" in a trucking accident on the Eyre Highway earlier this year.

Determined to prevent others from experiencing the same pain, she spearheaded a petition that became one of the largest South Australia's Transport Minister has ever tabled in parliament. 

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"I was just lost and didn't know what to do, so I just thought I'd start a petition and I thought might get a couple of hundred (signatures)," Mugridge said.

The new laws will introduce extra training for truck drivers, as well as ruling that international heavy vehicle driving licences will no longer be recognised in South Australia.

"We need to train these people in Australian conditions and get good outcomes," Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis said.

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Despite the changes, drivers can still travel interstate to obtain their full licence.

But the Road Transport Association believes it will only be a matter of time before it becomes national law.

The new laws will come into effect in February.

This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.