Avoiding accidents with NuVech AirBar
NuVech Solutions, the creator of the AirBar vehicle-mounted retractable safety device, has outlined the workings and advantages of the product.
“It would be expected that driving is the most dangerous aspect of driver’s role, but this is not necessarily the case,” said NuVech.
“The real concern for driver and operative safety occurs when working around the vehicle. At this point, the driver must concentrate on their respective role, which leaves them vulnerable to passing traffic. Recovery operators, highways agencies, and the police the world over have all registered fatalities when working in the live lane.
“As driving standards and concentration when behind the wheel decline, the risk of serious injury increases. Large/multiple light systems are visible from a distance, but close up can be overwhelming.”
The AirBar retractable safety device aims to provide drivers and operatives with a safer working area when working in the live lane, NuVech explains.
“Before exiting the vehicle (and if using the nearside door to exit is not possible), the AirBars can be deployed, allowing the driver to egress the cab into a safer working zone,” said the company.
“Drivers using our customers’ vehicles fitted with the AirBar system have recorded zero contact with the AirBar from any passing vehicle or road user (over a period of three years). This gives well over two feet of space for the driver to work in.
“Nothing but pre-placed signs can come close to those statistics, but the key feature of the AirBar is that the driver does not have to put themselves at risk to erect a sign in order to make their role safer, merely flick a switch.”
A positive by-product of the system’s deployment, says the firm, is that the AirBar effectively doubles the viewed width of any vehicle it is fitted to, so approaching drivers slow down or move over (usually both), due to the visual impact.
The AirBar mounts inside the silhouette of the vehicle and is fully retractable, with systems available to cover all truck types and sizes.
The system can also be connected to the nearside indicator feed, so that at (or below) 15mph, when the indicator is used, the nearside AirBars deploy and the LEDs flash in conjunction with the indicator.
“This alerts approaching cyclists and motorcyclists, who see a small gap ahead to ride through, that the vehicle is about to turn,” said NuVech.
“No other system has the effect of a deployed AirBar, and due to its construction and using low air pressure, there is no risk of impact. Audible alerts are not heard as most are wearing headphones, and current visible alerts are missed in preference to maintaining progress.”
In 2019, NuVech Solutions won the Institute of Vehicle Recovery’s Innovation award, sponsored by Lodar, for the AirBar. NuVech is also a supplier for the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS).
