Podcast

Smart Visibility Systems for Heavy-Duty Vehicles

Learn why going with Grote’s lights not only save you money but can help provide safety

Episode 75: Chris Cammack is the Global Market Manager of the Aftermarket at Grote. In this episode, we discuss smart visibility systems in the heavy-duty industry, and how Grote’s lights not only increase visibility but how it can save lives.

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Show Notes

Question 1: How has Grote remained an innovative company for over 100-years?

It started out as a chemical company. Mr. Grote was a chemist, and sold patents, and created the system that made automated molding machines. Today, it’s still a family-owned business, and the way they run and operate the business, and their core values remain today. Everything they do over the last 50 years has all been focused on the heavy-duty and automotive industry.

Question 2: Why should someone look at the Grote LED headlight over other brands?

Grote is dedicated to leading the industry with its LED lights. It’s their goal to be the dominant force when it comes to LED headlight/forward lighting. They are already strong in the aftermarket and are thriving in the OEM as well. Grote does a lot of testing and makes sure the fit, form, and function work perfectly for the customers.

Question 3: How has Grote solved the problem of snow getting packed on the LED headlights?

With halogens, the housing on the lens got hot enough to melt the snow or ice. With LED’s, there was not enough heat to do that. That is why Grote came up with the first heated LED headlight. The software in the headlight will automatically detect when there is a build-up of snow or ice and melt it without the driver needing to flip a switch or anything.

Question 4: Is there more work that can be done to further reduce rear-end collisions?

Most rear-end collisions are caused by distracted driving. In fact, about 60% of all rear-end collisions are because people are on their phones. In the USA, Groendyke added an extra light on the back of their tankers to see if it would lower the collisions. When they were finished testing, they found that extra light decreased rear-end collisions by 33.7%. Right now, NHTSA released a waiver for any other tanker to add a strobing light to the back of their trailer that strobes when you hit the brakes.

Question 5: What steps need to happen for this to become an industry standard?

Right now, NHTSA released a waiver for any other tanker to add a strobing light to the back of their trailer that strobes when you hit the brakes. The next step is waiting for this waiver to become available for all heavy-duty trailers.

Question 6: What is the economic impact of solving this problem?

The average cost of an accident is $10,000 (in the heavy-duty industry it is commonly known to be higher). There are approximately 116,000 rear-end collisions annually. If you estimate that 3.5% of all the trailers in use right now will be in a rear-end accident, you are looking at roughly 325 million dollars in cost. If you can reduce these accidents by 33% like the Groendyke study shows, we could be saving at least 110 million dollars in accidents.

Question 7: More importantly will this save lives?

The fewer accidents that happen, the fewer lives that will be lost. This will in turn save lives.

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