Iteris and Delphi team on truck safety technologies

With the addition of Delphi's forward collision and blind spot warning, Iteris now offers a comprehensive suite of active safety driver assistance features.

The Trucker News Services

8/5/2008

SANTA ANA, Calif. —Iteris Inc. has been named the exclusive distributor of Delphi’s Forward Collision Warning System for North American commercial vehicles. The agreement is designed to utilize the Iteris commercial truck OEM and aftermarket sales channels and application engineering expertise to integrate Delphi’s radar-based technology into its product portfolio for heavy truck customers.

Iteris will also be authorized to sell Delphi’s Side Alert blind spot warning system in North America.

Delphi has more than 35 years experience in developing and manufacturing passive and active safety systems. Delphi began developing active safety more than 20 years ago and was one of the first suppliers to launch a radar-based adaptive cruise control system in 1999. Using the same radar platform, Delphi has continued to add features and functionality to its system including forward collision warning. Additionally, Delphi’s Side Alert blind spot detection system helps alert drivers of heavy trucks of vehicles in their side blind spots when changing lanes.

With the addition of forward collision and blind spot warning, Iteris now offers a comprehensive suite of active safety driver assistance features. These features also include Iteris’ vision-based Lane Departure Warning system (LDW) and the Iteris Safety Direct LDW data collection system. The combination of these systems creates an overall active safety package, which provides not only lane departure warnings but also assists drivers with longitudinal and lateral awareness support.

Delphi’s Forward Collision Warning system is designed to increase driver awareness of tailgating situations and impending collisions in all weather and lighting conditions. The extra seconds of warning provided by the system help provide drivers with additional time needed to take appropriate action to help avoid a crash. In addition, the system’s Headway Alert feature provides long-range sensing to help the driver maintain a safe following distance well beyond the capability of any vision-based system.

Delphi’s Side Alert blind spot detection system helps commercial vehicle drivers that are changing lanes or engaging in other maneuvers to resolve some of the challenges from blind spots that exist to the sides of heavy trucks. The blind spot warning system helps drivers avoid or reduce the severity of side-related accidents resulting from collisions with vehicles and objects in the side blind spot. When a vehicle or object is detected the system visually alerts the driver to help avoid an accident. When the turn signal is activated and a vehicle or object is detected an audible alert is also provided.

Iteris’ LDW system was the first of its kind to be deployed in the commercial truck and passenger car markets and it still remains the only vision-based system in mass production in the U.S. and Europe. Iteris has sold over 55,000 LDW systems to the heavy truck market worldwide representing an estimated billion of miles traveled per year. In the U.S., there are currently 65 fleets specifying Iteris’ LDW system with a combined fleet size of nearly 49,000 trucks and another 83 fleets with approximately 156,000 trucks conducting field tests.

Iteris’ Safety Direct system analyzes real-time lane departure warning data captured by Iteris’ LDW system and can relay this information directly to fleet operators through integration with the truck’s existing fleet communications system. The system provides an immediate warning to fleet operators if their drivers are having difficulty staying in their lanes, often a first indicator of driver drowsiness or other potential problems.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, rear-end, lane change, and roadway departure crashes account for approximately 3.6 million police-reported crashes each year on U.S. roadways. These three crash types result in about 27,500 of the nation’s 42,000 annual traffic fatalities and contribute to a considerable economic loss due to injuries, property damage, and decreased productivity. Iteris’ cutting-edge active safety systems are designed to help reduce the number of motor vehicle crashes and the severity of crash-related injuries.