Road Safety. An important theme for anybody in any country, but in some countries definitely more than others. Samsung has launched a safety initiative to solve one of the (literally) biggest safety hazards on the road: the Truck. Let me start by saying that the hazard has nothing to do with the truck driver but with the size of the vehicle. Yes, there are terrible drivers in trucks, but there are terrible drivers in any vehicle. That problem is not addressed here.
The size of a truck is a safety issue because it blocks the view of the road ahead. Especially on one-lane roads, where overtaking traffic faces opposing traffic in their lane when overtaking are dangerous. It is exactly that problem that Samsung has addressed with their innovative solution: they have placed a camera on the front of a truck that has a wireless connection to a set of four (probably Samsung 😉 ) screens on the back of the truck. The screens on the back of the truck show what is going on in front of the truck, even at night.
This solution not only makes it safer to overtake but may also show drivers of problems up ahead, like a crossing animal or a traffic jam. The sooner drivers can see a problem, the sooner they can anticipate, which allows for less emergency braking and fewer accidents.
One of the most dangerous countries in the world in terms of traffic is Argentina. The video states that one person dies of a traffic accident each hour. Each hour! One of the main reasons is many one-lane roads—the perfect setting for a pilot of this project.
Samsung writes on their own blog Samsung Tomorrow:
Currently, the prototype truck built is no longer operational. So far Samsung has been able to confirm that the technology works and that this idea can definitely save the lives of many people.
The next step is to perform the corresponding tests in order to comply with the existing national protocols and obtain the necessary permits and approvals. For this, Samsung is working together with safe driving NGOs and the government.
I hope this solution gets approved and implemented fast, especially in countries like Argentina, which can clearly save so many lives.
