DHL Tradeteam and Nijhof-Wassink to test truck and driver safety 07 July 2010

DHL Tradeteam in the UK and Dutch haulage firm Nijhof-Wassink are participating in an EU road safety study aimed at assessing driver behaviour and truck safety systems.

EuroFOT (European Field Operating Test) is an EU-funded project that brings together 28 companies and organisations, examining traffic situations and how drivers are assisted by existing and new on-board truck systems.

Carl Johan Almqvist, traffic and product safety director at Volvo Trucks, explains that 30 Volvo trucks are being driven in regular operation by the two haulage firms over a one year period – each equipped with five cameras to record everything that happens in and around the vehicle.

"This project enables us to register in detail potentially dangerous situations. It also allows us to evaluate the benefits of our new accident prevention safety systems and build up a substantial bank of know-how for the development of new systems," says Almqvist.

Data recording has been set up to trigger on specific parameters, such as vehicles that suddenly appear in the vicinity or irregular driver eye movements, he says. "By analysing driver eye movements, for example, we can learn more about what distracts drivers and how this influences safety," he asserts.

"New systems, such as adaptive cruise control and the monitoring of blind spots considerably boost safety levels for drivers, other road users, the truck and its cargo. The information from euroFOT will give us a new opportunity to demonstrate this," he adds.

Author
Brian Tnham

Related Companies
Volvo Group UK Ltd

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