Iteris, a provider of vision-based technologies and Intelligent Transportation Systems designed to optimize traffic flow and enhance driver safety, announced that Cargo Transporters says its has achieved a 90 percent decrease in lane-departure preventable accidents since deploying Iteris’ Lane Departure Warning (LDW) system. Lane-departure preventable accidents include sideswipe, inadvertent lane change and run-off-road accidents that represent the single largest cause of injury and fatality crashes when heavy trucks are at fault, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Cargo Transporters, a truckload dry van carrier based in Claremont, N.C., began installation of Iteris’ LDW technology in its fleet of 420 trucks in January 2003. During the five years prior to installing Iteris’ LDW technology, Cargo Transporter’s fleet traveled a total of 235.4 million miles and had 56 lane-departure preventable accidents, which represents a rate of .2379 per million, or one every 4.20 million miles traveled.
Cargo Transporters’ trucks equipped with Iteris’ LDW technology have accumulated more than 84.7 million miles of travel with just two lane-departure preventable accidents, resulting in a rate of .0236 per million, or one every 42.35 million miles traveled. This represents a decrease of 90 percent, a significant number considering the substantial costs associated with heavy truck crashes. According to studies conducted by FMCSA, the average cost of an accident involving a large truck is more than $75,000.
“Cargo Transporters has always been on the forefront of technology when it comes to the safety of our drivers and ensuring our customers’ goods arrive safely and on time,” says John Pope, chief executive officer of Cargo Transporters. “We were one of the first fleets to install Iteris’ Lane Departure Warning technology because I believed it would have a significant impact on our company’s driving record, and I was right. We’ve seen more dramatic results after deploying LDW than from any other safety technology we have installed thus far.”
News of these results from Cargo Transporters comes on the heels of another national fleet reporting a 65 percent decrease in lane-departure related accidents, as well as FMCSA’s study that found that more than 32 percent of crashes where the truck was at fault were the result of departing from the roadway or crossing over the lane line, making it the single largest cause of large truck injury and fatality crashes.
“Iteris is extremely proud to see that another truck fleet has achieved such a significant decline in lane-departure preventable accidents after deploying our LDW technology,” says Jack Johnson, president and CEO of Anaheim, Calif.-based Iteris. “We expect to see many more of these successes. Cargo Transporters was an early adopter of our safety technology and believed in the potential of LDW to help save lives and make our highways safer. In addition, we believe that with results like these, our growing customer base will realize the positive return on investment that our LDW systems can provide.”
