Fleets Turn to Onboard Technology To Improve Safety
Safety is a critical concern for fleets and professional drivers, and onboard safety technology is a powerful tool to enhance drivers’ ability to control a motor vehicle, improve reaction times, reduce liability and even help control insurance costs.
Some safety solutions come as standard features on vehicles and others can be spec’d when fleets order equipment. Onboard safety technologies to consider include:
Collision Mitigation Technology
Collision mitigation systems use a camera in the front of the vehicle and radar, which work together and provide more active brake assistance and warnings, such as lane-departure and blind-spot detection. They also work to detect potential crash situations, such as when the distance between the truck and a vehicle gets too short. The systems alert drivers and take action automatically if drivers don’t.
The definition of collision mitigation can vary. At Penske, collision mitigation is defined as the following features on the vehicle:
- Automatic Emergency Braking: Detects potential collisions, provides forward collision warning and automatically applies brakes to avoid or lessen an impact
- Lane Departure Warning: Alerts drivers when the vehicle they are operating approaches or crosses lane markers (lines in the road)
- Adaptive Cruise Control: Keeps the vehicle in cruise control while automatically adjusting with acceleration and/or braking to maintain safe distance between vehicles
All Penske heavy- and medium-duty tractors and trucks signed on or after 4/22/22 have collision mitigation technology as part of the standard base spec.
Onboard Video Technology
Onboard cameras are a proactive tool for improving driver coaching and identifying risky driver behavior. The systems can record video either continuously or as the result of a triggering event. In-cab video recordings can be used to clear a professional driver of fault in the event of a crash, and inward-facing cameras can identify driver behaviors that need correcting. Things such as dozing off, texting and not paying attention to the road can be seen in real time so the coach can even talk to the driver as they are occurring.
Fleets that invest in camera technology typically see an overall improvement in safety. A study of over 10,000 crashes by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that event-based video systems, combined with driver-behavior coaching, reduced fatal crashes by 20% and reduced injury crashes by 35%.
Telematics/Onboard Data
Telematics can allow fleets to review a driver’s performance, and systems often provide alerts for hard braking, taking off quickly and speeding. That data can be used to improve coaching, mentoring and corrective counseling.
Lane Departure Warning Systems
A lane departure warning system is a mechanism designed to warn the driver when the vehicle begins to move out of its lane unless a turn signal is on in that direction.
Electronic Stability Control
Stability control technology minimizes rollovers and crashes involving loss of control. If the systems detect a vehicle is reaching its critical stability threshold, the technology kicks in and automatically reduces engine torque, applies the engine brake and activates the necessary wheel-end brakes, which reduces the likelihood of a rollover, jackknife or loss of control.
Automatic Braking
Automatic braking is a safety technology that spontaneously activates the vehicle’s brake system when sensors monitor the presence of vehicles ahead and around the vehicle or detect any situation where there’s an impending collision. Air disc brakes can also minimize the risk of roadside violations from brakes being out of adjustment, which is a soft value add.