On July 31, 1999, the National Transportation Safety Board commenced a 3-day public hearing on Advanced Safety Technologies for Commercial Vehicle Applications. This hearing was part of a year-long Truck and Bus Safety Initiative that was mandated by Congress. The purpose of the hearing was to identify advanced technologies that can improve the safety of trucks and buses and to discuss the benefits of such systems and the future needs. Some of the areas discussed were fatigue technologies, stability technologies, braking technologies, human interface, vehicle inspection technologies, and data recorders. The results of the hearing, which included testimony from Federal and State officials, International officials, manufacturers, researchers and unions, will be incorporated into future NTSB accident investigations. This paper summarises the results of the hearing.
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