STOPSAFE emergency braking system gets approval from the VCA
Exciting news this morning!!! We are proud to announce that after a long period of development and consultation with the VCA our emergency vehicle braking system STOPSAFE has received accreditation.
The system has been developed following on from the Glasgow tragedy in 2014 where a driver lost consciousness while at the wheel of a moving refuse lorry resulting in six deaths and leaving 15 people injured. At the time of the enquiry technical experts were brought in to examine the vehicle. It was asked if anything could have been done to prevent the crash? The enquiry heard from these experts that an emergency button or automated braking system could be added to such vehicles in future.
Michael Hanson says “We were all extremely shocked by the events in Glasgow and we set our technical team with the objective of preventing a tragedy like this from happening again. Working together with a number of councils, Private Waste companies and the VCA we have designed STOPSAFE to eradicate the risk of this type of incident should it re-occur in the municipal industry or any other crewed vehicle.
Effectively the system reduces the vehicle’s speed while simultaneously bringing it to a controlled stop using the braking system. The system is activated using a secure emergency lever installed to the vehicle dashboard, allowing the crew to react to an emergency situation should the driver become incapacitated.
We are the only system provider to manufacturer any direct solution to the problem of out-of-control vehicles and plan to offer the system to every council in the country, developed to work universally across any manufacturer’s vehicle and is suitable for both new build and retrofit.
Michael adds” We are aware that other products have been developed but so far, they have all failed to get approval. We are the only manufacturer to get accreditation from the VCA, something we are very proud of.
Our team have been up against may obstacles and worked tirelessly on this development, it has not been an easy task. However, we have never given up and been extremely tenacious to ensure this product was successfully produced and available to the market in line the tribunal experts’ suggestions.
As a major supplier to this industry the Glasgow incident affected everyone that works within it, including us, our purpose is to protect, and we have genuinely made it our mission to ensure that this type of accident doesn’t happen again”
The product is due to launch this summer and will form part of our safety portfolio. For more information on STOPSAFE or any other safety system from Vision Techniques contact the team for a demonstration on 01254 679 717