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Even in today's highly-connected world, humans still play a vital role in work environments, and most present-day heavy-duty mobile equipment operate in proximity to humans. Functional Safety was born to ensure equipment systems can detect, diagnose, and safely mitigate incidents to prevent harm to humans and machines. By proving, testing, and documenting the system design process, functional safety is now a critical element to any/all systems installed within heavy-duty mobile equipment, factory options, and aftermarket machines.

ADAS, or Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems, are developing rapidly and in several stages. ADAS is not autonomy; by definition, it is Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems while autonomous vehicles have systems that are designed to completely control a vehicle in most or all situations.

IAA Exceeded PRECO’s Expectations 

In its 67^th year, the IAA Commercial Vehicle show has become one of the world’s largest events, with 2,174 exhibitors from 48 different countries and over 250,000 visitors throughout the show. Presenting the future of commercial vehicles and mobility, IAA exhibitors approached the industry’s top issues and introduced the latest and greatest innovations - showcasing the future of transportation, logistics and mobility.

The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration attributes 94 percent of all crashes to human error, mostly associated with recognition and decision errors. Research and testing done so far on autonomous vehicles point toward a much safer world. But making vehicles smart enough to navigate an incredibly complex world is not happening overnight.

What if you could wave a magic wand and get rid of all the things that slow down your fleet.  The things that make your drivers work harder and longer and cut into your company’s profits? Imagine rolling a truck into a repair bay before a tire blows out or the brakes fail. Imagine drivers being automatically guided to the most affordable fuel and best route. Imagine if the industry didn’t have to spend 51 million hours a year reviewing and storing paper logbooks. These and similar problems can take a serious bite out ofproductivity and profits. Fleet telematics is becoming the go-to solution for these and a host of other fleet-management challenges.

PRECO Electronics is excited to announce the immediate availability of our expanded vision system offerings.  The new suite of monitors and cameras, including PreView® Monitor 5 HD, PreView® Monitor 5 LD, PreView® Mini Cam, and PreView® Mirror Monitor, provides customers with a wide range of flexibility and the ability to integrate PreView® radar sensors to help mitigate accidents, improve fleet operations, and further assist with blind spot monitoring.

Despite improvements in safety training, the number of accidents and fatalities as a result of collisions between motorcyclists, pedestrians or cyclists and commercial trucks & buses has remained high over the past 30 years – even increasing in our biggest cities. In the USA alone there were 587 such deaths in 1989, 519 in 1999, and 531 in 2014, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Efforts by commercial fleets to improve vehicle safety are counteracted by more traffic and an increase in driver distraction – e.g. the use of handheld devices. It seems like people would rather scroll through their social media feed than pay attention to where they’re walking or driving.

A stronger economy, lower unemployment rates, and better gas prices have put more people on U.S. roadways, causing motor vehicle fatalities to rise by 9% in the first half of 2016. The National Safety Council estimates that 19,100 people have been killed over the road since January, and 2.2 million were seriously injured. What’s more, this Labor Day was predicted to be the deadliest holiday period since 2008, according to the NSC.

Other factors, including distracted driving, have contributed to the rise in over the road accidents. Side collisions with trucks from lane changes have increased on busier highways. Congested urban areas are seeing a rise in struck-by side collisions from turns and lane changes, especially with pedestrians and cyclists. The economy might look rosier, but the roadways do not, especially for the most vulnerable road users—those on foot and bikes.

PRECO Electronics’ wireless collision mitigation system is changing the Waste Industry’s use and understanding of active safety solutions.

Developed with the same rugged and advanced features as the entire PRECO line of safety solutions, PreView® Wireless WorkSight® eliminates the body cables and reduces the installation time for its customers and OEM partners. 

Held every three years in Munich, Germany, bauma is the international trade fair for showcasing construction and mining equipment and machinery. PRECO had the privilege of crossing the pond to team up with Mekra Lang and exhibit at the world’s largest construction trade show. The seven-day event, covering nearly 6.2 million square feet of fair grounds,  attracted more than 580,00 visitors from over 200 countries, with attendance up almost 10 percent from 2013.