The Netherlands have started with a large-scale operational test for several collision avoidance systems as well as a registration system for trucks. The objectives of these systems are to reduce the number of accidents with trucks, to gain insight in their effect on traffic flows and to test their effectiveness. The test is part of the FileProof programme of the Dutch Transport Ministry (Ministerie van Verkeer en Waterstaat) and is carried out by Connekt, TNO and Buck Consultants International. A total of 2550 trucks will make use of these collision avoidance systems for a period of eight months. Because of its largeness of scale, the interest from users, suppliers, producers and policy makers from across Europe is very high.
Over the last few months, all 2550 vehicles were equipped with the following systems:

• Headway Monitoring and Warning & Forward Collision Warning: warning the driver when the truck comes too close to the vehicle before him or to any other object 
• Lane departure Warning Assist: warning the driver when he is leaving his lane
• Adaptive Cruise Control: using sensors to automatically keep a safe distance from the preceding vehicle and to maintain a certain speed preset by the driver
• Directional Control: correcting ‘over- and under-steering’ problems and managing the brakes when a steering movement deviates too much from the driving direction
• Black Box: measuring driver behaviour in terms of fuel use, brake movements, cruise control use, etc.

In order to assess the effect of the systems on traffic flows, a measurement method was developed as well. This method combines speeds in traffic jams with data about the amount of traffic, which are then translated into time loss. The loss of time which is not resulting from any incident, for example daily traffic jams at the same place, is deducted from the total. In a later stage, the effect of the systems on accidents will also be measured.
First results of the measurements are currently coming in. Drivers seem to follow up the signals given by the systems. This could lead to preventing accidents. Next to that, the attitude of the drivers seems to improve when it comes to safer driving. First measurements also show that drivers react more to the Headway Monitoring and Warning & Forward Collision Warning systems (82%), than to the Lane departure Warning Assist (0.5%). The former also have a direct effect on more even driving. The settings of the systems will be analysed further.
For more information on this project, please contact Ester de Waard (dewaard@connekt.nl) or Anja Klaver (anja.klaver@rws.nl).