Brigade Electronics

Wired for safety

“We worked with Brigade for over six months on the project and we are really pleased with the results. It reduced false alarms considerably and feedback from our drivers was also very positive.”

The system was designed to reduce false alarms, allowing the driver to be confident in the accuracy of any warning. This allows the system to always be switched on when the vehicle speed is below 22mph, regardless of the indicator selection, without irritating the driver.

Driver responses have been overwhelmingly positive. FM Conway driver Dave Thomas says: “As a driver, your worst nightmare is an incident occurring in the nearside blind spot. This gives me peace of mind and there is no way I would want to drive a vehicle without this fitted to it.”

THREE-STEP WARNING

Brigade’s SideScan®Predict monitors for collisions even without the truck indicators being on

VEHICLE SAFETY SYSTEMS

SideScan®Predict is the latest innovation to prevent cyclist collisions, designed with the driver in mind.

Unique in the market, SideScan®Predict has been wholly designed and developed by Brigade Electronics and is one of the most technically sophisticated products in its portfolio. Using artificial intelligence, SideScan®Predict constantly gathers object detection data including the speed and distance of any cyclist or other vulnerable road user from the lorry.

Infrastructure service specialist FM Conway was looking for a cyclist detection system that could be activated at all times, not just when the vehicle indicators were selected.

Unfortunately, many available systems would create too many false positives and therefore driver desensitisation/overload. Although not mandatory, a system that can be active at all times is a recommended requirement in the Direct Vision Standard and FORS specification.

Steve James, transport manager at FM Conway, explains: “Brigade approached us and asked us to trial SideScan®Predict in the early stages of development and it met all the objectives we set out.

“At FM Conway, we are passionate about safety – it is intrinsic to our company ethos and this is reflected in our BSI-39001 certification. As such we strive to be at the forefront of new technology, so we were keen to see what the system could do. SideScan®Predict differentiates static objects like road furniture from moving objects and only sends audible alerts to the driver when there is a potential risk of collision via a three-step warning.

The first step is ‘Moving Object Detected’, which triggers a yellow visual warning but has no sound, to minimise driver distraction. ‘Danger of Collision’ also lights up yellow and has an audible warning to the driver to be vigilant.

The last step is ‘Collision Predicted’ with a flashing red light and high pitch audible warning for the driver to take immediate action to avoid a collision.

For more information call

01322 420300, email sales@ brigade-electronics.com or visit brigade-electronics.com