Technology Can Prevent 63,000 Truck Accidents Per Year
Modern Technology Can Prevent 63,000 Truck Accidents Per Year
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has examined four forms of technology available to help increase road safety. In line with this research, they also collected data on how other drivers viewed large trucks, and found that 61% of adults driving in America feel less safe driving near large trucks than passenger cars. The main reasons cited for this were the size of trucks, concerns about blind spots for truck drivers, and the possibility of a truck drifting out of its lane. About 26% of adult drivers did say that they would feel safer driving around large trucks if they knew that safety technology was installed in the trucks. That response appears warranted as AAA’s study into safety technology identified ways to reduce up to 63,000 accidents per year.
Safety Technology Available
The four areas of truck safety technology AAA studied were: lane departure warning systems, automatic emergency braking, air disc brakes, and video-based onboard safety monitoring systems. The braking systems were recommended as systems to be installed in new trucks. Of these, air disc brakes could prevent 2,411 crashes, 1,447 injuries and 37 deaths per year, while automatic emergency braking systems were projected to be able to prevent up to 5,294 crashes, 2,753 injuries and 55 deaths per year. Going beyond this, the other two systems focus on ensuring the truck is being driven safely, and can be installed in all new and existing trucks. If installed, systems that detect when a truck is leaving its lane are estimated to be able to prevent up to 6,372 crashes, 1,342 injuries and 115 deaths per year. The largest advances, however, were video-based onboard safety monitoring systems, with a possible reduction of 63,000 crashes, 17,733 injuries and 293 deaths per year.
Another form of truck safety technology, which was not examined by AAA in this study, are electronic logging devices (ELDs). These help ensure that truck drivers comply with limits on how long they can drive at a time and how much rest they are required to have per day - increasing safety by avoiding driver fatigue. Unlike the optional systems examined by AAA, ELDs are being required by a federal law that goes into effect on December 18 of this year.
The attorneys at Warner Law Offices care about the safety of truck drivers and everyone who shares the road with them. We encourage drivers to seriously consider the ways that the growing field of safety technology can help prevent truck accidents, and urge all drivers to be considerate of the needs of other vehicles. And if you or a loved one have suffered from a truck accident, we invite you to contact us so we can help you seek justice.