PRECO Electronics® Announces the Global Release of KBA Certified PreView Side Defender®II

BOISE, Idaho, June 27, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- As incident rates involving bicyclists, pedestrians, and other vulnerable road users (VRU) continue to rise, governments and cities around the world are demanding the improvement of on-road VRU protections and vehicle safety. PRECO Electronics® has developed PreView Side Defender®II, the first radar-based Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) certified side blind spot solution with active VRU warning and visual-display.

"Receiving KBA certification has made it possible for commercial vehicles to now use the Side Defender®II retrofit and CAN-based systems in Germany," Tom Loutzenheiser, PRECO's Vice President of Business Development said. "Meeting all German side turn assist qualifications, Side Defender®II can detect moving VRUs in the driver's blind spot accurately and reliably in crowded urban environments. Germany and the KBA have high standards, and as one of the first to pass the functional requirement testing, this type-approval shows our solution can make a difference in improving on-road VRU safety."

• Over 9,499 people are killed each year on urban roads in the European Union (EU), according to European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) 2019 research.
• In European cities, 70 percent of road deaths are pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists, according to this year's ETSC statistics.
• In Germany, Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) 2018 report on "Accidents with Right Turning Trucks" found 92 percent of accidents caused by right turning trucks involve bicyclists, while pedestrians make up the remaining 8 percent.

Large on-road trucks and buses pose an incredible threat to bicyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists, and others in smaller vehicles. Recognizing the issue, Germany has led vehicle and VRU safety standards in the EU, working on adding to current regulations and to modify specifications to apply to new and existing vehicles alike.

Promoting the implementation of side turn assistance systems to improve awareness for operators and safety for VRUs on the road, Germany has begun providing subsidies as part of the "Aktion Abbiegeassistent" campaign. Put in place by Federal Minister Andreas Scheuer and the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) last year, the campaign outlines the functional specifications systems must meet to qualify for subsidies. To qualify, systems are required to hold national type-approval from the KBA. As well as accurately detect and warn the driver of moving bicyclists within defined areas of interest while ignoring stationary objects to qualify.

As Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority, the KBA ensures all EU vehicle requirements are met within Germany. The KBA grants type-approval for vehicles and vehicle components following national and international statutory regulations. For KBA type-approval, a company must verify its legitimacy, demonstrate how production meets quality standards, and substantiate how obligations will be fulfilled as future type-approval holders.

Today, PRECO's Side Defender®II retrofit and CAN-based systems are both KBA certified and eligible for subsidies for vehicles of 3.5 tonnes and greater in Germany. Designed for ease of integration for new and on-the-road vehicles, commercial fleets now have the tools to meet Aktion Abbiegeassistent safety requirements and subsidies by improving operator awareness.

"There has been a global-awakening to the necessity of technological solutions capable of minimizing on-road incidents, especially those involving VRUs in the EU," Matt Wood, PRECO's Vice President of Global Sales said. "It is evident there is a need for a reliable solution like Side Defender®II, which alerts the driver whenever a VRU enters a truck's side blind zone to avoid collisions when making a passenger-side turn."

In the ADAC testing service's recent EU side turn assist comparison, Side Defender®II, presented by MEKRA Lang in Germany as the turning assistant AAS, was deemed the best performing side turn assistance system both in testing and on the real road.

Examined in the form of specific test scenarios based on the requirements of the BMVI and the draft specifications of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) ? the Side Defender®II AAS-fusion highlighted the significant difference between the capabilities of the other systems and technologies available, according to the ADAC.

About PreView Side Defender®II

Revolutionizing PRECO's original PreView Side Defender® radar system to include both CAN-bus and retrofit GPS technology, Side Defender®II brings VRU warning features to both new and existing trucks while retaining the lane change assist function at higher speeds. Using this technology, Side Defender®II incorporates vehicle speed as a component to ignoring stationary objects, minimizes nuisance alerts, and only alerting when VRUs and other moving objects are detected in the driver's side blind spot.

In adding VRU awareness to its already successful lane change technology, Side Defender®II enhances PRECO's tradition of providing innovative, active solutions for both retrofit and new vehicle safety. As the new global benchmark, Side Defender®II and the new PreView® v2 in-cab displays offer operators intuitive audible and visual alerts while giving installers more flexibility and time savings.

For retrofit applications, the new displays provide GPS-based vehicle speed information, while OEMs and bodybuilders can connect directly to the vehicle CAN-bus. This flexibility allows the system to be easily installed on both new and older trucks.

About PRECO Electronics®

As the global leader in collision mitigation technology, PRECO Electronics has offered side blind spot monitoring and collision avoidance systems for heavy and medium-duty trucks for over 20 years. Since 2016, PreView Side Defender® has been the most advanced side blind spot monitoring solution available, proven to reduce incident rates up to 85 percent. Now, Side Defender®II takes its place as the new global benchmark.

PRECO's KBA approved PreView Side Defender®II systems are available for purchase through MEKRA Lang in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, and through PRECO worldwide. To learn more about Side Defender®II, please visit http://www.preco.com or contact one of PRECO's safety professionals today. For information on the release, please contact Reyna Clow at [email protected].

SOURCE PRECO Electronics