Daimler petitions FMCSA to allow lower windshield placement of warning system camera

user-gravatar Headshot
Daimler Trucks is asking FMCSA to allow it to mount an attention assist and lane departure warning system camera below the area currently allowed by regulations.Daimler Trucks is asking FMCSA to allow it to mount an attention assist and lane departure warning system camera below the area currently allowed by regulations.

Daimler Trucks North America is petitioning the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to allow it to mount its attention assist and lane departure warning system camera lower on the windshield than is permitted by federal regulations.

The camera Daimler wants to mount on its trucks is approximately 7 inches tall, but regulations require vehicle safety technologies to be mounted no more than 4 inches below to upper edge of the area swept by windshield wipers. DTNA says it wants to mount the camera in the center of the top of the windshield, outside of driver sight lines, so the bottom edge of the camera will be 7 inches below the top of the windshield.

FMCSA says that while DTNA’s exemption application states the camera will be mounted 7 inches below the top of the windshield, supplemental information submitted by DTNA clarified that the camera system would actually be mounted 8.5 inches below the upper edge of the area swept by the windshield wipers – more than twice as far below the area currently allowed by regulations.

Last year, FMCSA updated its regulations to clarify that windshield-mounted safety technologies – including camera systems, speed management system, lane departure warning system, forward collision warning or mitigation system, active cruise control system and more – can be mounted no more than 4 inches below to upper edge of the area swept by windshield wipers.

During testing in which 50 CDL drivers drove more than 900,000 miles with prototype camera housings mounted, drivers said “there was no noticeable obstruction to the normal sight lines to the road ahead, highway signs, signals or any mirrors,” according to DTNA’s exemption request.

FMCSA is seeking public comment on the exemption request, which can be made for 30 days after the request is published in the Federal Register on Monday, June 26. Comments can be submitted by searching Docket No. FMCSA-2017-0176 at www.regulations.gov.

Showcase your workhorse
Add a photo of your rig to our Reader Rigs collection to share it with your peers and the world. Tell us the story behind the truck and your business to help build its story.
Submit Your Rig
Reader Rig Submission