Fatal Truck Collisions May Begin to Decrease With New Truck Technologies

Recently, the annual Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) met for the annual Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress and Exhibition to showcase several new technologies aimed at decreasing the potential for heavy truck accidents.

Among the commercial truck manufacturers technology and transportation suppliers involved in this year's SAE 2008 exhibit was Delphi, which introduced an array of technologies it hopes will decrease the fatal and costly accidents often associated with commercial trucks.

Truck Safety Technologies on the Horizon

There are an array of technologies on the horizon being developed by commercial truck manufacturers as well as technology producers working to better equip commercial truck drivers with the safety devices needed to better protect drivers, passengers and other vehicles on the road. Delphi has produced the following technolgies:

* The vehicle integrated safety system that offers lane departure warnings for forward, side and lane departures using radar and vision technologies.

* The headway alert system offers feedback to drivers on safe and unsafe distances for audio and visual alerts.

* A lane departure warning system that uses a camera to alert drivers when they have drifted out of their intended lane and the system uses algorithms to stop alerts when turn signals have been used.

* A drowsy driver alert system attempts to reduce vehicle accidents caused by sleepy drivers by using an imaging sensor and infrared illuminators to determine the number of eye closure rates that occur for an individual driver. Additionally, this system can automatically use fresh air, alert tones or phone calls as well as audio signals that a driver pull off of the road.

In addition to new-aged technology being developed to ease commercial truck driver's worries of becoming involved in an accident, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is in its third year of its driver information sharing project known as the Enhanced CVISN. According to the FMCSA Technology Division, this system was created to "enhance the safety, security and productivity of commercial vehicle operations and to improve access to and quality of information about commercial drivers, carriers, vehicles, chassis, cargo, inspections, crashes, compliance reviews and citations for authorized and public and private sector users.".

The project is also responsible for gathering and maintaining statistics on commercial truck carriers involved in accidents, receiving tickets as well as roadside assistance.

Legal Help For Commercial Truck Accident Victims

Commercial truck accidents are among the most dangerous vehicular accidents that can occur in the United States. Most commonly truck accidents involve a severe injury or bodily harm to those involved.

Those who have been involved in a heavy truck accident should consult an experienced legal attorney who can provide insightful details into developing a truck accident lawsuit.