Canadian Occupational Safety

14 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com "We are seeing multiple technologies popping up over night into vehicles… All these things have been pushed into the market very, very quickly and we have not had the chance to understand them," says McGehee. Whether workers are driving a company-owned vehicle or their own vehicle for work-related purposes, it's in the employer's best interest to ensure they are driving safely as employers can be liable for any crashes that occur. "Driving is their workers' greatest risk and it doesn't matter what they do. They could be a fi reman, a police- man, they could be in the oil and gas industry… their greatest risk at work is driving and a lot of companies over- look it," says Grant Aune, president and CEO of Advantage Fleet Services, headquartered in Chilliwack, B.C. McGehee and his team have launched a campaign called MyCar- DoesWhat.org to help people become familiar with the safety features in their vehicles. The website has videos of 28 different technologies — with more being added regularly — that demon- strate exactly what each feature does. The videos are quirky with a cute dog to draw in the viewer and the explana- tions are clear and easy to understand. TOP SAFETY TECHNOLOGIES Anti-lock braking systems (ABS) have been standard in cars for many years — they became offi cially mandated in 2012 — yet many workers are still confused. Twenty-fi ve per cent of survey respondents were unsure how to properly use ABS and 10 per cent said they work best when the driver pumps the brakes, which is incorrect. ABS works best when the driver fi rmly applies and holds the brakes. "ABS brakes in my opinion, from a hazard avoidance perspective, is one of the most incredible technologies that's out there and I would venture a guess that 90 per cent — probably even higher than that — don't under- stand how it works and how to use it," says Aune. One of the more common safety technologies on the market today is adaptive cruise control. Unlike its pre- decessor — cruise control — adaptive cruise control not only maintains the speed set by the driver but a follow- ing distance set by the driver as well. Advanced versions can even slow and stop the car in traffi c jams then accel- erate. The University of Iowa survey found 14.3 per cent of respondents have this feature in their vehicle. "If you are in an urban area, every time you hit the freeway there is fre- quently stop-and-go traffi c. These systems will brake and accelerate for you down to a stop. It can be really fatiguing to be constantly putting your foot on the brake, accelerating, you need to pay a lot of attention and that's where these slow speed rear-end collisions occur," says McGehee. The backup camera is another increasingly popular technology. The camera provides a view of the blind zone directly behind the car while backing. Some systems incorporate lines to show the backing path in the display. Depending on the vehicle, the display screen may be found on the centre console, in the rearview mirror or even in the sun visor. But it is still important to look over the shoul- der and in mirrors when backing up. Nearly one-fi fth (17.9 per cent) of respondents in the University of Iowa survey have this feature in their vehicle. "Most organizations get nickeled and dimed on employees backing into stuff — fi xed stuff like buildings other parked vehicles. Backing is a huge prob- lem in most fl eets," says Aune. "People don't usually get seriously injured but it's usually under the deductible so the fl eets are paying right out of their profi t margin for those types of events. With a backup camera, the driver immedi- ately sees what's behind him because we tend to get lazy and not check before we backup." Aune recalls one of the saddest fatal crashes he ever investigated where a large commercial vehicle backed up over a nine-month old baby. Had the vehicle had a backup camera, this trag- edy would not have occurred, he says. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the United States has made backup cameras mandatory in all vehicles manufactured after May 1, 2018. Transport Canada works closely with the NHTSA and it is considering simi- lar regulatory action for new vehicles that will be sold in Canada. Lane departure warning systems are becoming more common in vehicles. This technology alerts the driver using a visual, vibration or sound warning when he drifts into another lane when the turn signal is not activated. Only 4.6 per cent of respondents in the Uni- versity of Iowa survey currently have this feature in their vehicles. The more advanced version is the lane keeping assist where the car gently steers itself back into its lane if the driver does not respond to the warnings. These systems are going to be standard in the next fi ve years, says McGehee. "The most common fatal crash in North America is single vehicle lane departure, where you are on a country road and you drift out of the lane and lose control and wind up in a ditch or hit a tree," he says. "Lane keeping systems won't let you depart the road. It's sort of like in a bowling alley when you throw the ball and it bounces off the bumper and comes back in." Both of these features use lane markings to operate, so they will not work on unpaved roads, roads without markings or roads covered by snow, leaves, fog or debris. The next step — and the technology is already there — is to have a metallic compound in the paint itself that the system can detect even if the line is obscured. Forward collision warning is something that will be coming soon to lower-end vehicles. This feature warns a driver when she is closing in on the vehicle ahead too quickly. Warnings can come in the form of sounds, visu- als, vibrations, a quick brake pulse or a mix of warnings. Just 4.7 per cent of respondents in the University of Iowa survey have this feature in their vehicle. Paired with forward collision warn- ing are automatic emergency braking systems (AEB). If the driver does not react in time to the warning system, automatic emergency braking slows down the car — allowing the driver to steer to safety — or brings the car to a stop. In March, NHTSA and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the United States announced that 20 major vehicle manufacturers have committed to making AEB a standard feature on all new vehicles by 2022. "One of the systems is passive and the other is active, so the forward collision warning systems warns the driver, 'Okay, maybe you're a bit too close and if you don't do something, there's going to be an impending col- lision here.' And with the automatic emergency brakes, the vehicle would brake itself without intervention from the driver," says David Adams, presi- dent of Global Automakers of Canada in Toronto. "A lot of technology is moving from these passive warning systems to more active intervention by the vehicle." High speed alert is another safety feature, which emits a sound when the driver is speeding. This feature co-ordinates the car's position, via GPS, with a database of speed limit information. Newer versions may use a camera to read speed limit signs. And a more advanced version of this feature, called intelligent speed adap- tation, would be capable of slowing down the car automatically if a driver passes the speed limit. WORKER EDUCATION To educate workers on the different technologies, employers can start by pointing their workers to MyCar- DoesWhat.org. They could even make it a requirement for workers to watch certain videos to better understand the various technologies before getting into a new vehicle, says Adams. He would also like to see more involvement from the manufacturers. For example, if a company is buying a fl eet of cars, that manufacturer could host a training session for workers to show them exactly how the tech- nology works and give workers the opportunity to ask questions. "That's the challenge. I'm not sure the manufacturers themselves have wrapped their head around that. Whether or not they would have dedicated people at their dealerships that would say, 'This is going to be an area of focus for us where we dedicate someone's time to do these types of educational sessions.' Maybe that will be something that emerges as more SAFETY IS NO ACCIDENT Ensure your protection with FireZero. Innovative Fire Resistant Clothing. Better Technology. Superior comfort. Visit www.firezerofr.com

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