Daimler gets exemption to allow lower windshield mounting of lane departure cameras

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Updated Feb 1, 2018
Daimler Trucks North America has been granted an exemption that allows the company to mount warning system cameras lower on windshields that regulations currently allow.Daimler Trucks North America has been granted an exemption that allows the company to mount warning system cameras lower on windshields that regulations currently allow.

Daimler Trucks North America has been granted an exemption that will allow the truck manufacturer to mount a camera for an attention assist and lane departure warning system lower on the windshield than is currently allowed by federal regulations.

The camera Daimler can now mount on its trucks is approximately 7 inches tall, but regulations require vehicle safety technologies to be mounted no more than 4 inches below to upper edge of the area swept by windshield wipers. DTNA said in its request the camera would be mounted with the bottom of the camera approximately 8.5 inches below the upper edge of the area swept by the windshield wipers, outside the driver’s sight lines.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in its decision to grant the exemption, states there is no indication the camera would obstruct drivers’ views of the highway, signs or traffic. Additionally, FMCSA says the use of the attention assist and lane departure warning system would improve safety on the highways.

The exemption is good for five years beginning Wednesday, Jan. 31, when the notice is published in the Federal Register.

In 2016, FMCSA updated its regulations to clarify that windshield-mounted safety technologies – including camera systems, speed management systems, lane departure warning systems, forward collision warning or mitigation systems, active cruise control systems and more – can be mounted no more than 4 inches below to upper edge of the area swept by windshield wipers.