The purpose of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA’s) Advanced System Testing utilizing a Data Acquisition System on the Highways (FAST DASH) program is to conduct an efficient and independent evaluation of promising safety technologies aimed at improving commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operations. The CMV safety technology evaluated in this study was a blindspot object detection and warning system (BSW), which uses an array of infrared laser beams to create three-dimensional (3D) detection zones on either side of a CMV. The system alerts the driver of objects in the blindspots via activation of amber light-emitting diodes (LEDs) mounted on the side-view mirrors. This particular technology type was selected because it can address the leading heavy truck pre-crash scenario that an independent analysis by Volpe National Transportation Systems Center identified (“Changing lanes/Same direction”), and there is limited documentation of BSW system effectiveness for CMVs in industry literature. Results from the controlled tests and the field study indicate that the subject BSW system provides good coverage and helps to identify objects in the blindspot zones of CMVs. These blindspot zones pose a particular challenge to CMV drivers, especially on the passenger-side of the vehicle. System testing in controlled experiments on a test track showed that the system performed well at correctly detecting vehicles inside the detection zones and correctly ignoring vehicles outside the detection zones. During the field study, participating drivers indicated an overall user acceptance for the system. A safety benefit analysis was performed, using safety-critical events (SCEs) as a measure of risk, and results indicate practically significant improvements with a strong positive statistical trend for safety benefits. (Author/publisher)
Abstract