US truck driver here, hard agree.

If they can work out any potential kinks I’d be all for it.

Yes, I am aware. I’ve driven almost every make of semi currently on the US market. I’ve gotten plenty of drive time with all of the different safety systems (Detroit Assurance, Volvo’s VADA, and Bendix Wingman).

It’s not uncommon for the truck to randomly slam the brakes because it saw an overhead sign and got confused, or started sounding alarms because it thought the tar lines in the road were lane markers.

A big rig is a lot more size and mass than a car, and people are assholes. I can’t count the number of times I’ve tried to make an emergency lane change only for some dickhead to floor it and pass so they’re not stuck behind me for >60 seconds.

That doesn’t solve the system mistaking road signs and shadows for cars. A trucker who practices defensive driving should already be slowing when someone jumps into their lane, which would also prevent the system from responding.

Plus the systems generally automatically re-enable after a few minutes.

Funnily enough, the video you linked wasn’t the auto braking. The driver did that.

I’m not at home so I can’t find the article, but Volvo confirmed it awhile back. There’d also be a bright red flashing light right in front of the driver that would be visible.

Found the Aussie!

Trucking down under compared to the US is like the US compared to Europe. Folks down under take it to a whole new extreme.

I’ve had some pretty substantial close calls over the years. I’ve been wanting to ditch the career entirely, but with certain recent events it might be my meal ticket to a new country of residence instead.

Nope, I’m saving to return to college.

Plus even if the tech gets there, it’ll be cheaper for companies to blame drivers for fatality crashes than assume fault by operating autonomous trucks.

Just route a second air horn into the cab lmao

Yeah Bendix is by far the worst. Detroit works great if the radar has been calibrated, and Volvo’s has been the best for me. I’ve been slipseating VNL’s the last 2 years and have had exactly one false alarm brake tap, and only a couple false beeps from the lane keep.

Detroit never hit the brakes on me, though. Just screamed a lot until it was recalibrated.

ABS has been mandated since 1997 my friend.

I’m assuming ESP is another term for stability control? That has also been mandated for several years, referred to as Electronic Stability Control (ESC).

Lane Keep and Radar Cruise isn’t required (yet) but are standard equipment on pretty much every Aero/fleet spec truck that hits the road now.