E-Smart Seat Belt can tell if a driver is buckled up. (supersizer/Getty Images)
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A software tool launching in the third quarter of 2024 is set to allow carriers to make sure drivers are buckled up before they set off, the developer said.
The customizable software, E-Smart Seat Belt, will also allow a fleet owner to prevent its vehicles driving above a certain speed in specific zones if not wearing a seat belt, developer E-Smart said June 5.
Indianapolis-based E-Smart said Seat Belt detects if the driver is not wearing the seat belt and limits (or slows the vehicle) to a predetermined speed.
E-Smart’s system determines the location of vehicles in real time and allows fleets to manage and customize vehicle speeds to posted speed limits using the company’s customer portal. The system communicates with the truck’s onboard electronic control unit to control the throttle.
Seat Belt addresses noncompliance in a variety of scenarios, including:
- General driving: when a driver is not wearing a seat belt, the truck will not go above a nominal, set speed. Each occurrence is captured in an event report for the fleet;
- Inside speed-controlled geofenced zones: Fleets can create custom parameters for zones, including limiting speed;
- Seat belt malfunction monitoring, or awareness of a belt being removed while the vehicle is in motion is also an option.
“We saw the statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that 69.3% of the drivers who died in crashes in 2022 were not wearing seat belts as heartbreaking,” said Joe Thell, E-Smart senior vice president.
“When asked by fleets to help solve this problem, we knew that our technology could make a difference in having drivers wear their seat belts. With E-Smart Seat Belt, we can detect and monitor seat belt use under different conditions. The fleet can then provide the operational rules of what happens under each condition,” Thell added.
The developer expects a 50% reduction in speed-related incidents and accidents, a 50% reduction in the severity of remaining incidents and accidents and a 2% fuel efficiency improvement through speed management as a result of the product.