Brigade safety systems for Smiths & Sons

Company specifies Backeye 360, MDR and Sidescan systems for entire tipper fleet

SMITHS & Sons (Bletchington) Ltd, quarry operators and haulage providers, have introduced Brigade safety systems as a part of their standard specification for all new vehicles.

Based in Oxfordshire, a city well known for its cyclist activity, Smiths & Sons have taken a proactive approach towards ensuring the safety of vulnerable road users.

Concerned about driver information overload and encouraged by the introduction and industry acceptance of specifications such as CLOCS and FORS, Smiths’ have specified Brigade’s Backeye 360, Sidescan and mobile digital recording devices for their entire tipper fleet going forward.

Smiths’ transport manager, Paul Needle, explained: ‘In the past we have been actively involved in vehicle safety days around Oxford and we were also involved in the launch of the Mineral Product Association’s cycle safety scheme. Smiths are very proactive when it comes to vulnerable road-user safety and, having trialled various vehicle camera systems, were the first tipper operator to fit the Backeye 360 system.’

Backeye 360 is an intelligent camera monitor system that assists low-speed manoeuvrability, providing the driver with an all-round view of the vehicle in a single image on the in-cab monitor. The system simultaneously blends and stitches together the live images from four ultra-wide cameras to produce a single bird’s-eye view image, effectively eliminating blind spots.

These images are recorded on Brigade’s new MDR-404-500 four-channel mobile digital recording device. Fitted with a 500Gb hard-drive and built in GPS, this has the ability record up to 1,164 hours of footage from the Backeye 360 camera system.

In addition, Smiths & Sons have fitted Brigade’s Sidescan obstacle-detection kit to the entire fleet. Required to meet specification standards including FORS, CLOCS and Crossrail, the four-sensor system is fitted along the bottom of the cab on the nearside.

Working in conjunction with a Backchat speaking alarm, the system provides an audible warning alerting both the driver and the vulnerable road user to a potential hazard when the vehicle is turning or manoeuvring at low speed.

Since fitting the systems Smiths & Sons have reported a number of driver benefits, particularly a reduction in information overload.

‘I was very impressed with Brigade’s products, the Backeye 360 in particular,’ said Mr Needle. ‘The drivers immediately saw the benefits of the all-round view and the system has now been made a part of our standard specification for all new vehicles.’