Expert Panel to Discuss Driver Assistance Technologies for Heavy Trucks
NSC and NTSB note that their July 24 roundtable comes as motor vehicle fatalities are up despite rapid advancements in safety technologies.
A July 24 roundtable discussion hosted by the National Transportation Safety Board and the National Safety Council at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel (Schaumburg, Ill.) will examine the barriers and safety benefits of using advanced technology in heavy-duty trucks.
Nearly two dozen trucking industry professionals, government officials, safety advocates, researchers, and others will participate in a conversation about strategies to increase the use of advanced driver assistance systems in heavy-duty trucks and fleets. The event is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Central time.
Interested parties may email questions in advance or during the event to: [email protected].
NSC and NTSB note that the event comes as motor vehicle fatalities are up despite rapid advancements in safety technologies. The council estimates at least 40,000 people died in U.S. crashes during 2016, which is a 14 percent increase since 2014 and the steepest two-year increase since 1964. "Heavy-duty vehicles have not been immune from the troubling trend: more than 4,300 large trucks and buses were involved in fatal crashes in 2015, according to the most recent data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration," they reported, adding that existing safety technologies such as forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, and blind-spot detection could prevent or lessen the impact of heavy-duty truck crashes, but many trucking organizations and independent operators have not fully embraced new technologies for their vehicles.
As a result, NTSB included "Increase Implementation of Collision Avoidance Technologies" on its 2017-18 Most Wanted List of transportation safety improvements.
Experts from many organizations are scheduled to participate, including Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the American Trucking Associations, FMCSA, Daimler Trucks North America, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, NHTSA, Schneider National, Inc., the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, and Volvo Trucks USA – North America. The meeting is open to the public, but seating is limited, and the event will be webcast. To view the webcast, visit the events page on the NTSB website and click on the registration link.