Preventing plant-pedestrian collisions: Camera & screen systems and visibility from the driving position

The issue of collisions between plant or site vehicles and pedestrians concerns numerous sectors of activity. Lack of visibility for drivers over their direct environments is one of the main causes of such accidents, which are often serious. Visibility can be improved indirectly by using camera-and-screen systems. This article gives the findings of a study on the detectability of a pedestrian by a driver using such a system in various configurations. It is thus recommended that, under the most unfavourable conditions, any pedestrian entering the danger zone be shown on the screen with at least a minimum height of 10 mm. Since the risk of non-detection is higher at the edges of the screen than at the centre, it is also recommended that the detection zone of the system cover an area extending beyond the danger zone under surveillance. Finally, since the size of the screen does not have a significant influence on detection, the choice of the screen size should be governed more by criteria regarding the fitting out of and the ergonomics of the cab or of the driving position.