This week Diesel News headlines include Dangerous Truckies, Safety Award, Electric Road and an Autonomous Future.
A survey has been published by TomTom Telematics reckoned to identify the best and worst drivers on the road, biggest driving gripes and how this is impacting businesses. The survey found over half (52 per cent) of motorists have been put in a dangerous position by commercial drivers, of which, one in ten have admitted to driving recklessly in a company vehicle over the last year.
The worst performers were the truck drivers of NSW with 35 per cent of those surveyed reckoning they were the worst drivers on the road. Across Australia, truckies came in third at 29 per cent, behind sports cars and SUVs.
Compare these numbers with the crash stats put out by NTI’s National Truck Accident Research Centre, in which over 90 per cent of two vehicle accidents involving fatalities were not the fault of the truck. This illustrates the gulf between perception of trucks and the actual facts.
Safety Innovation
The recipient of the 2017 National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR)/Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association (ALRTA) Safety Innovation Award is Dean Clarke from Hopkins Transport in New South Wales.
The NHVR-ALRTA Safety Innovation Award, supported by BP, is a joint Government/Industry initiative recognising rural road transport operators who have identified Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) related safety risks and implemented successful, innovative control measures.
ALRTA National President, Kevin Keenan said that Dean has won this award because he has taken a proactive approach to safety and has made a significant difference in the way his organisation operates.
“He has instilled an emphasis on correctly and consistently performing safe operating procedures through the roll out of an organisation-wide program at Hopkins Transport,” said Keenan.
Dean will use the prize of a $5,000 development fund (co-funded by BP) to undertake a psychology course which will better equip him to roll-out his program even further.
Memorial Award
M.C. Herd ifrom Geelong was announced as the winner of the inaugural Shane Knight Memorial Award at the Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of Victoria (LRTAV) Annual Conference.
The award was created to honour the memory of Shane Knight, who was a member of the LRTAV for 29 years and was presented with a Life Membership in 2013 and the award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Livestock and Rural Transport Industry’ in 2015.
Electric Road
Siemens has been commissioned by the German state of Hesse to build an overhead contact line for electrified freight transport on a 10 km stretch of motorway. The line will supply electricity for the electric drive of a hybrid truck. Siemens originally presented its innovative ‘eHighway’ concept in 2012.
Intel buys Mobileye
Intel and Mobileye have announced the completion of Intel’s bid to buy Mobileye, a specialist in computer vision and machine learning, data analysis, localisation and mapping for advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving. The combination will allow Mobileye’s computer vision expertise to complement Intel’s computing and connectivity expertise to create automated driving solutions from cloud to car. Intel reckons the vehicle systems, data and services market opportunity to be up to $70 billion by 2030.
“With Mobileye, Intel emerges as a leader in creating the technology foundation that the automotive industry needs for an autonomous future,” said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. “It’s an exciting engineering challenge and a huge growth opportunity for Intel. Even more exciting is the potential for autonomous cars to transform industries, improve society and save millions of lives.”