Con-way Truckload recently announced it will spend $2 million on safety equipment on all of the 525 new tractors purchased in 2013. Con-way has a history of investing in new safety technology, participating in tests of new equipment beginning in February 2009 in a program in partnership with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.
The most recent safety equipment involves 3 systems:
- Front Collision Avoidance – This is on-board forward-looking radar with an adapted cruise control, which sounds an alarm when the truck closes to less than a 3 second stopping distance of a vehicle in front. If the driver does not react, the system intervenes and begins breaking.
- Electronic Stability Control – This technology measures g-forces and automatically begins breaking to slow the tractor and to decrease the amount of lean or tipping in a turn, to prevent roll-overs.
- Lane Departure Warning – This system alerts the driver if the vehicle begins veering unintentionally (without the turn signal being engaged) into another lane. This system sounds an audible warning.
Most truck manufacturers offer this or similar technology as an option. Con-Way reports that the technology is popular with drivers. We hope that is the case and that this technology improves safety for drivers and the general public.