While ELDs are controversial at best, here’s some tech that isn’t necessarily cheap but will be effective; autonomous-braking. Jason Cannon has an article at CCJdigital.com highlighting the technology.
He indicates that according to, “[a] study from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute…automatic emergency braking (AEB) could decrease truck fatalities by between 44-47 percent…” While I doubt that veracity of that number I do not doubt that this technology will save lives and money.
Autonomous-braking is a no-brainer solution. There are some things the tech developers will need to get right. For one, when a vehicle pulls in front of a truck but is moving faster than the truck, will the technology brake severely when it isn’t needed or will the system allow the gap to grow without a 100% brake application? Secondly, as Cannon does note, hitting the brakes hard on a Camry is fine, but a 100% braking application on heavily loaded tall vehicle without regards to the curvature of the road or the available traction on the road might cause more accidents than it prevents. Developers will need to make sure to bring autonomous-braking to market along with a suite of other electronic safety aids such as electronic stability control (ESC – worth noting: ESC will be required on all new heavy-duty trucks starting in 2017).
Thanks for reading.