360 degree camera “quicker solution” to blind spots

Fitting 360-defree cameras in HGVs will provide a “quicker and more immediate solution” to driver blind spots than re-designing lorry cabs, road safety campaign SteerSafe has said.

On behalf of Transport for London, last year Loughborough University examined driver fields of view and later recommended that a new standard be introduced to set minimum fields of view direct through windows and doors. But the founder of SteerSafe, Chris Hanson-Abbott OBE, said that re-designing lorry cabs will “cost a fortune” and could take years.

“Why wait when there is a perfectly good solution available right now?” said Hanson-Abbott. “More lives will be lost needlessly.

“Bird’s-eye view technology is already tried, tested and in service which gives drivers a continuous bird’s-eye view of a wide footprint all-round the vehicle – 360 degree camera systems eliminate all blind spots on a single monitor image.

“This yields massive relief from driver information overloads of multi-image systems via mirrors or monitors, relief from cab re-designs, and relief from more lives lost in the meantime.”