City Increases Pedestrians' and Children's Safety by Adding 1,500 Surround Cameras to Fleet of Trucks

   by Yehudit Garmaise

     Pedestrians, bicyclists, and children will be safer on the streets now that 1,500 of New York City’s fleet of trucks will be retrofitted with safety cameras that provide clear views of the spaces that surround truck and bus drivers.

      “Safe streets save lives,” said Mayor de Blasio, who launched Vision Zero when he first came into office in 2014. “Adding cameras to our fleet is a commonsense way to create a safer city for everyone.”

     While conventionally designed trucks obstruct the drivers’ views of the road in front of their engines, the new cameras that are being installed by the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), provide clear views of objects, cars, and people who are directly in front of, behind, and in the blind spots of truck drivers.

      The new surround camera system, which the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and others have proven in studies to increase pedestrians' safety, provides drivers with full views of all the sides of their vehicles.

   In addition, to increase precautions for drivers when they go into reverse, the city’s trucks’ new safety systems includes back-up sensors and sound alerts.

     NYC Parks Department garbage and forestry trucks, New York City Housing Authority box trucks, New York City Police Department rack trucks, NYC Department of Environmental Protection catch basin trucks, DCAS supply vans, NYC Department of Correction buses, and NYC Department of Transportation dump trucks are some of the city's fleet of vehicles that are getting new surround cameras.

    The trucks’ safety cameras are the latest effort of the DCAS, which has already increased the safety of the city’s trucks by updating their driver alert systems, telematics, truck side-guards, automatic braking, back-up alerts, dash cams, and heated mirrors.

   “Vision Zero has always demanded we address street safety issues on multiple fronts,” said  Hank Gutman, the commissioner of the city’s Department of Transportation. “Our partners at DCAS are showing us that we not only need to train the safest drivers, but we also need to ensure they are driving the safest fleet vehicles. Because being able to see the child or senior behind or over the hood of a city vehicle can very often be the difference between life or death, the new surround cameras added under this plan will undoubtedly save lives.”

 Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.