The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has released the results of research that concludes up to 63,000 truck related crashes could be prevented each year if trucks were equipped with currently available safety technologies.
Regulatory based safety mandates generally apply to new vehicles and don’t require that existing fleets be outfitted with mandated technology. AAA’s approach with this study is to recommend that all large trucks (i.e. over 10,000 GVW), both new and existing vehicles, be equipped with specific safety technology to obtain the maximum effect. They feel that if all trucks were equipped with lane departure warning systems, automatic emergency braking, air disc brakes, and video based onboard safety monitoring systems, that the added costs would be outweighed by the benefits accruing from the decrease in crashes, injuries and fatalities.
Lane departure warning systems can prevent up to 6,372 crashes, 1,342 injuries and 115 deaths each year.
Video-based onboard safety monitoring systems can prevent as many as 63,000 crashes, 17,733 injuries and 293 deaths each year.
Automatic emergency braking can prevent up to 5,294 crashes, 2,753 injuries and 55 deaths each year.
Air disc brakes can prevent up to 2,411 crashes, 1,447 injuries and 37 deaths each year.
A recent AAA survey conducted in parallel with the AAA Foundation’s research found that six out of ten (61 percent) U.S. adults feel less safe driving past large commercial trucks than driving past passenger cars. The top three reasons are:
– Trucks’ large size and length (28 percent)
– Trucks have greater blind spots/less visibility (18 percent)
– Trucks can drift or swerve out of their lane (14 percent)
About one in four (26 percent) U.S. adults say adding safety technology to large trucks would help them feel better about sharing the road. Professional truck drivers and motorists have a mutual responsibility to safely share the road by being attentive to changing road factors and driving conditions. When traveling near a large truck, drivers should:
– Be aware that trucks have large blind spots or “no-zones.” As a rule of thumb, if you cannot see the driver in the truck’s side view mirror, they cannot see you.
– Leave plenty of room between your vehicle and a truck when coming to a stop on a hill. Trucks may roll back as the driver takes his or her foot off the brake.
– Avoid speeding up when a truck is passing. Slow down and give the truck driver plenty of room to pass.
– Follow trucks at a safe distance.
– Allow plenty of space for a truck driver who is signaling to change lanes.
It’s interesting to note that the majority of drivers feel unsafe around large commercial vehicles. On the trucking side, the common perception is that it’s the passenger car drivers who are likely to make an error in judgement.
There is common ground between these two viewpoints: even with all of the technology available individual drivers can still affect the outcome of common driving scenarios. Although there is certainly not a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to preventing crashes, it would certainly be beneficial if new drivers received education on how to best operate around larger vehicles. At the same time motor carriers should double down on their efforts to promote defensive driving techniques.
In the final analysis, professional drivers will always be held to a higher standard than the average passenger car driver. However, the motor carrier industry should do what it can to encourage safer driving decisions across all types of drivers and vehicles.
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