Grote Industries announced two innovative safety systems aimed to protect passenger car drivers and heavy truck operators on the road. The company’s H.E.L.P. DeliverSafe digital and lighting alert and 4SEE rear collision warning system are the two newest enhancements to the company’s smart trailer solutions.
Andrew Grose, vice president of Grote Networks, stated that every minute that a tractor-trailer is on the side of the road, the chance of an accident increases by 2.8 percent. H.E.L.P. DeliverSafe attempts to alert passenger car drivers both visually and digitally to mitigate accident risk. The system, developed in partnership with Emergency Safety Solutions, uses a rapid flash pattern and additional lights to create visual contrast and alert motorists of the stopped vehicle.
Additionally, the system leverages popular navigation systems by placing a stopped vehicle digital alert in real-time with exact location directly to oncoming drivers’ navigation apps and in-cab displays. Grote said a Virginia Tech study revealed that 87 percent of drivers slowed down or changed lanes when exposed to H.E.L.P. alerts – nearly three times more effective than standard hazard lights.
The new 4SEE rear collision warning system uses a trailer-mounted radar sensor unit to monitor traffic behind the tractor-trailer. If it detects a potential collision, it activates an auxiliary warning lamp in a rapid flash pattern as much as four seconds ahead of time. The retrofittable system is built on 4SEE Digital Harness, using secure wired data transfer, lamp–specific light-out detection and the ability to receive over-the-air updates. The system mounts directly to the back of a trailer in less than two hours.
“[4SEE rear collision warning system] is calculating a time to collision at any given point of a car approaching the back of a truck, just like your forward collision system works inside a car,” explained Grose. “It calculates the delta of speed between the car and the back of the truck that it's approaching and start to flash a light at the driver's eyes. It's always monitoring and checking to make sure you're safe.”
