In 2018, 4,136 people died in commercial truck accidents in the U.S., according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Thousands of more victims were injured in Commercial truck collisions as well. Consequently, regulators must search for different ways to make the trucking industry much safer. One of those methods is to install high-resolution […]
In 2018, 4,136 people died in commercial truck accidents in the U.S., according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Thousands of more victims were injured in Commercial truck collisions as well. Consequently, regulators must search for different ways to make the trucking industry much safer. One of those methods is to install high-resolution cameras that face the truck driver. Unsurprisingly, truck drivers, and trucking industry experts do not want cameras facing their drivers.
Technology has developed to the extent that cameras can capture the road around the truck and record the driver’s movements as well. However, not every trucking company wants to install this potentially life-saving technology.
Several companies now manufacture devices that can keep a record of the movements of the driver in the cab as well as devices that run on artificial intelligence, which can monitor the levels of fatigue and distraction of the driver. These devices record drivers as the driver may yawn, change head position, change the gaze of their eyes, and move their body while they are operating a commercial truck. Based on that data, artificial intelligence will analyze the truck driver’s behavior to determine whether the trucker was fatigued or distracted while driving, leading up to an accident. The machine would be programmed to send an alert to the driver, indicating that the driver needs to pull off the road and get some rest if the driver is distracted or fatigued.
Truck drivers are reluctant to use in-cab cameras because those devices invade their privacy. Trucking companies are reluctant to install driver monitoring equipment in their trucks as well. Trucking companies recognize that this technology requires a large capital investment that might increase safety but decrease job satisfaction for their employees. Trucking companies say that use of technology that monitors drivers is invasive and makes the drivers feel like a company micromanages them. Despite their objections, cameras that face the driver ensure that the driver is operating safely and could exonerate a driver accused of causing a truck accident when the video evidence suggests otherwise.