NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services has begun the installation of surround safety cameras on 1,500 fleet trucks to eliminate blind spots and visual impairments for truck operators.
"Safe streets save lives," said de Blasio. "Adding cameras to our fleet is a commonsense way to create a safer city for everyone."
Conventionally designed trucks obstruct the driver's view of the road in front of the engine, causing a safety hazard for pedestrians, bicyclists, and children.
"These new cameras and backup alerts will offer drivers a full view of the obstructed areas around a truck, helping to keep pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers safe," said DCAS Deputy Commissioner and NYC Chief Fleet Officer Keith Kerman
These retrofits are part of the DCAS Safe Fleet Transition Plan (SFTP) for City fleet units and has already installed over 60,000 safety improvements to City fleet units, including driver alert systems, telematics, truck side-guards, automatic braking, back-up alerts, dash cams, and heated mirrors.
"Outfitting the City's fleet with cameras is a smart and proven way to reduce collisions and increase safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers alike," said Deputy Mayor for Operations Laura Anglin. "I'm proud of the work City agencies have done to bring Vision Zero to life and look forward to making further progress in 2021."
DCAS previously announced that it is pursuing high vision truck models for future truck replacements. High vision trucks will eliminate frontal visual obstructions. The 1,500 surround cameras will be retrofitted onto existing conventional trucks to improve safety until replacements are in place. DCAS has installed over 500 units at 13 agencies so far and will complete the rollout by December 2021.
The NYC Department of Sanitation is also testing similar technology for its fleet of garbage trucks.
"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," said DOT Commissioner Hank Gutman.
The surround cameras will go on a wide variety of vehicle types including NYC Department of Correction buses, 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, and NYC Department of Transportation dump trucks.
The surround camera system provides the driver a full view of all sides of the vehicle and includes back-up sensors and sound alerts when a truck is going in reverse to increase safety.
