AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

GOOD YEAR FOR BLEEPERS

14th December 1985
Page 34
Page 34, 14th December 1985 — GOOD YEAR FOR BLEEPERS
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Keywords : Reversing, Truck

JT HAS BEEN a good year fin reversing alarms or "bleepers". Thanks to an amendment to the Construction and Use Regulations, on February 28, 1985, they became legal on lorries over two [Mines gross vehicle weight and on large passenger vehicles with nine seats or more.

Before then, they were technically illegal because they normally emit an intermittent bleep rather than a continuous note. lkspite this, I I gi,ig II) to 1511,1511) reversing alarms had already been fitted although we know of no prosecutions.

In November 1984 .1 nine-year-old boy was tragically killed by a London Borough of Brent bus reversing. At the inquest this July the coroner recommended that Brent's council vehicles should be fitted with reversing alarms, adding: "Unless this is done then a similar tragedy may be seen as reckless...

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has picked up on this last point and last month suggested that the failure to fit a reversing alarm could leave an operator open to a charge of negligence because he did not take all reasonable steps to prevent a reversing accident.

In short, the legal emphasis now appears to encourage rather than discourage the fitment of reversing alarms.

Of the half dozen or so devices available the market leader is the YEC reversing bleeper by Brigade Electronics of Blackheath, London SE3. This company introduced the reversing alarm to the UK III years ago when it started to import the YEC unit from Japan (where reversing alarms are compulsory in vehicles over fOur tonnes gross vehicle weight). Brigade Electronics. managing director Chris I lanson-Abbott lobbied long and hard for the legalisation of reversing alarms and so is naturally delighted at the change in the law. But he is not so pleased with the amended regulation's lower weight limit. "Why two tonnes GVW? It is a totally arbitrary figure. Reversing bleepers should be legal on all commercial

The main customers for the YEC unit have been the municipal fleets (on refuse collection vehicles), oil companies, the National Coal Board and the National Bus Company. Now, the large distribution fleets are warming to the idea, but so far there has been very little take-up from the private haulage sector or coach operators.

Brigade believes that price can be the only possible deterrent, although even in this age of narrow margins, the ti30-40 price of a typical reversing alarm should not be that significant.

The YEC unit for lorries is a solid state, piezo sounder 95mm long and 65mm in diameter. It is waterproof and can stand up to steam cleaning. It is wired in via the vehicle's reversing light circuit so that it is activated when reverse gear is engaged.

If the operator wants to silence the bleeper at night it can be wired through the sidelights so that it is switched off when the lights are on. Alternatively, an override switch can he fitted in the cab.

So that it cannot be confused with the noise of a pelican crossing, the YEC bleeper has a far lower frequency (pitch) and a slower pulse rate.

Owing to the effect of the amended legislation and the subsequent possible legal ramifications of not fitting reversing alarms, Brigade expects sales to treble or quadruple in the next year.

Whereas reversing alarms warn pedestrians and other road users that the lorry is reversing they do not help the driver to reverse (except for the peace of mind). Brig-ade is soon to market a device that will help the driver judge the distance between the rear of his vehicle and a loading dock or any obstacle behind the vehicle when reversing.

It is called Supereyes and uses ultrasonics to reflect off the obstacle and back to the vehicle to measure the distance. Sensor units on the rear of the lorry or bus/coach emit ultrasonic waves when reverse gear is selected and the time taken fbr the waves to bounce back is translated into a distance measurement by a microprocessor.

In the cab a colour-graduated display unit flashes green on first detecting an obstacle (within 3m of the vehicle's rear), changing to amber and then red as the distance decreases. The audible pulses issued by the unit also change.

A British-made Supereyes is currently under evaluation by Redland and the product is soon to be marketed generally by Brigade Electronics. It will be priced at k:150-200. Unfortunately, it is only suitable for rigid vehicles because the electrical connections between a tractive unit and trailer prove difficult for the Supereyes equipment.

For the ultimate in reversing safety Brigade has a video camera system. This uses a bore-hole camera protected by a steel tube and relaying pictures from the rear of the vehicle to a monitor screen in the cab. The i2,000 price tag of this sophisticated system puts it well beyond everyday commercial vehicle use and it is being tested on an off-road dumptruck before it is properly launched.

by David Wilcox


comments powered by Disqus