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DRIVER-FACING CAMERAS * USA: Truckers see an invasion of privacy
* Arizona - There's pressure in the industry to monitor truck drivers. May increase safety and reduce liability
(From Memphis to Miami, by Allie Knight - Jul 1, 2014: I explore the country looking for freight, earning an honest living doing the kinds of driving that make civilized life possible for the rest of us. Join me on my epic journey throughout the US with Reginald, my Freightliner, and Tom, my GPS)
-- Swift Transportation, one of the nation’s largest freight trucking companies, this month began equipping its trucks with Lytx DriveCam systems including both a front-facing and driver-facing camera. Though it’s not the first truck operator to install driver cams, Swift is by far the largest to date, and pressures on the industry point towards broader adoption... In addition to their human cost, the financial costs of crashes for carriers are substantial. In a 2012 report, the FMCSA estimated the average cost of an injury crash at $195,258, and of a fatal crash at over $3.5 million. Recent years have seen over 4,000 truck accident fatalities in the U.S.A. annually, and settlements to victims routinely exceed carriers’ federally-mandated $750,000 per-incident insurance coverage. 2014’s largest truck accident settlement was for over $34 million... But driver-facing cameras could help reduce the number of accidents that happen in the first place. Truck drivers, of course, are used to being alone in their cabs... Truckers, however, have taken to industry forums to express outrage over the driver-facing cameras, saying that they represent both excessive oversight and an invasion of privacy. Swift President and COO Richard Stocking reassured drivers that “we are not watching the driver; we are watching out for the driver” ... The U.S. Federal Highway Administration concluded in a 2004 study that in car-truck collisions, the car driver was solely responsible for the accident 70 percent of the time. Though front-facing cameras are already common on freight trucks, evidence from driver cams may go further to limit drivers and carriers’ liability in fatal crashes... Driver resistance represents a risk for Swift, wich operates over 18,000 trucks, but cameras will be installed, at least at first, only in the more than 6,000 trucks owned directly by the company... Other large carriers have already explored the possibilities of driver-facing cameras, with CR England running a pilot program in 2013. With Swift leading the way to full-scale implementation, its competitors may not be far behind...
Phoenix, AZ, USA - Fortune, by David Z. Morris - May 26, 2015
Labels: surveillance cameras
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