Video Surveillance as Legal Protection for Transport Companies and Drivers
In recent years, professional drivers in heavy traffic have repeatedly raised concerns about the deteriorating safety of professional drivers on the roads. Poor winter road maintenance poses challenges and safety risks for heavy traffic, and the behavior of other road users has become increasingly difficult to predict year after year. Almost daily, we have had to read news about traffic accidents involving a heavy vehicle as one of the parties.
Duty of Anticipation – Video Surveillance to the Rescue
The new Road Traffic Act came into effect on June 1, 2020. A significant addition to the new Road Traffic Act compared to the previous one is the duty of anticipation, which applies to all road users. Drivers working in professional traffic are classified as experienced road users, with the assumption that a professional driver should be able to anticipate accidents and hazardous situations. Feedback from transport operators regarding the new Road Traffic Act has been concerning from the perspective of the driver’s legal protection. In accidents where it is a so-called ‘word-against-word’ situation, for example, in minor collisions during lane changes involving HCT combinations or in tight roundabouts with a car as the other party, the professional driver is always considered at fault, even though the driver had no chance to influence the incorrect decision made by the car driver, which led to the accident.
Since the early 2010s, heavy traffic drivers have lit candles on December 1st to honor the innocent victims of fatal accidents, expressing their concern over the increase in fatal accidents that occur ‘for unknown reasons,’ where a heavy vehicle becomes an entirely innocent party in the accident. In serious accidents where a professional driver is involved, it is crucial for the driver’s recovery and legal protection that the accident investigation is completed as quickly as possible after the incident. With the changes, video surveillance plays a decisive role in protecting the legal rights of drivers. Video surveillance systems can provide objective and indisputable evidence in accident and hazardous situations. Video surveillance records the events around the vehicle in real-time, which helps clarify the sequence of events and establish guilt or innocence.
Recording Video Surveillance to Improve the Safety of HCT Combinations
The number of HCT (High Capacity Transport) combinations on the roads is increasing every year. The overtaking distances for HCT combinations are significantly longer, and they are more susceptible to changes in weather conditions. By law, HCT combinations are required to have cameras with a minimum 100-degree field of view on both sides of the vehicle, as well as a minimum 7” display in the cabin. Recording the footage from HCT cameras, along with adding front and rear cameras, is advisable to enhance the legal protection of the driver. Professional drivers and heavy vehicles on the roads are essential for the functioning of our society. The most important resource and asset of a transport company is the driver. Every professional driver deserves a safety system in their vehicle that provides video recordings from both sides of the vehicle, oncoming traffic, and behind the vehicle in the event of an accident. The HCT camera system can also be connected to the vehicle’s own display and simultaneously to video recording. For transport companies, implementing this kind of recording video surveillance is easy for both new and existing vehicles on the road, with minimal monthly costs.