The trucking industry spends millions of dollars annually on technologies aimed at increasing road safety. These are ideas that are better and worse, those that work well in practice and those that do not meet all expectations. But do the ladies and gentlemen who are responsible for their actual use have one definite technological favorite?
In search of an answer to this question, “CCJ’s” magazine (in collaboration with Lytx) conducted a survey entitled “What Drivers Want”.
More than 60% of respondents said that the device that most improved safety is a camera mounted in the driver’s cab and facing forward. In a distant second place ex aequo (after 31% of the voters), there were two security systems. One of them is a collision mitigation system, the other is a lane departure warning system.
Professional drivers say that the biggest threat to their safety is passenger cars, which is why traffic recording camera systems are so useful.
Many trucking companies have decided to install cameras that are directed both in front of the truck, in the direction of travel, and into the cabin. And it was the cameras observing the driver that took second place among the most unpopular devices (54%), second only to the speed limiter (67%), and in third place among the technologies that reduce safety, CDL drivers mention electronic logging devices – ELD.
They motivate their choices with very simple and realistic facts. First, speed limiters contribute to record traffic jams on highways, and second, ELD forces driving within unrealistic time frames.
Many respondents noted that the latest technologies and reliance on them leads to the disappearance of skills required of professional drivers, which have been honed for generations.
Most of the respondents are against the implementation of the latest technologies, perceiving them as a “Big Brother” tool. As many as 58% believe that they play a leading role in monitoring and controlling drivers by trucking companies, and only 10% claim that these technologies make work easier and safer.
In conclusion, truck drivers, most of whom represent Generation X, believe that improving road safety requires a focus on educating all road users and better enforcement of traffic regulations.
Wishing you wide and safe roads from ALL ABOUT TRUCKS & TransLab!! We put Truckers first!!!
