Top Ten Truck And Trailer Safety Technologies
1) Truck Electronic Stability Control
- Applies individual brakes to correct the vehicle path.
- Mandated for new trucks in Europe and USA / Canada.
2) Truck Autonomous Emergency Braking
- Brakes the truck and trailer to avoid a frontal collision.
- Mandated on new trucks in Europe, but no active proposal to mandate in Australia.
- The first step is adaptive cruise control.
3) Truck Auxiliary Brakes
- Heavy-duty trucks should have powerful auxiliary brakes to help control downhill speed (the best one Owner//Driver has come across is Scania’s transmission retarder).
- Mandated in Europe but there is no active proposal to mandate here.
4) Truck Blind Spot Detection
- Displays images or symbols that identify vehicles in blind spots.
- Improves visibility, particularly on the left side. The danger is driver distraction.
- No active proposal to mandate in Australia.
5) Truck Suspension Seats with Integral Belts
- Now mandated in ADR 5.
- Driver comfort is greatly improved.
- A principal reason for low seatbelt wearing rate is non-use of integral seats.
- The legacy problem with most trucks older than 7 years.
6) Truck Lane Departure Warning System
- Warns the driver when a lane departure is pending or occurring.
- Helps the driver to deal with fatigue.
- Mandated in Europe on most new heavy trucks but no active proposal to mandate here.
7) Trailer Electronic Stability Control (TEBS)
- Slows the truck when a pending rollover is predicted. Proven benefits.
- Incorporates electronic brake distribution.
- Under active consideration here.
- Settings sometimes need to be fine tuned so a relationship with the supplier is important.
8) Trailer Side-Under Run Barriers
- Important in city driving environments
- Effective at keeping bicycles, motorcycles and sideswiping cars away from the wheels.
- Mandated in Europe but no active proposal to mandate in Australia.
9) Truck and Trailer Tyre Condition Management
- Pressure management reduces stopping distance and improves fuel economy and tyre life.
- Temperature/pressure monitoring reduces fire risk due to wheel-end problems.
- Under active review by the European and USA regulators but no active proposal to mandate in Australia.
10) Tipping-Body Stability Management
- Australia is allowing longer tipping trucks and trailers.
- Interlocks that monitor air-bag pressure now exist to stop the lift when it is unsafe.
- No active proposal to mandate here. Should be a basic OHS requirement.