tyres with smart sensors will help reduce accidents in UAE.
In line with the UAE's vision of keeping the
roads safe, a Germany-based tyre company, in cooperation with
Road Safety UAE, has rolled out an 'intelligent system' for monitoring
commercial and fleet service tyres on Thursday.
Continental, a German technology and tyre
brand, has introduced a smart device that will send out signal to the
driver and the company to manage its fleet by setting up limits on road
travel, giving alerts on tyre condition and monitoring of tyre pressure
data.
"Before we talk about autonomous vehicles or
electric cars, we should first ensure tyre safety. Nothing gets closer
to the road than the tyres and if we ensure our tyres are safe then we
are sure to improve road safety," José Luis de la Fuente, managing
director of Continental Middle East, told Khaleej Times on the sidelines
of Contivention, a fleet gathering session in Dubai on Thursday.
Citing a bus-truck collision on Dubai road in
May, where seven people died and 35 others were injured after a bus tyre
burst, Juan Uruburu Alonso, Continental Middle East head of sales, said
this horrific accident could have been avoided because there is a
technology to monitor tyre condition.
"We should embrace digitalisation," Alonso
said. "By continuous pressure and temperature monitoring, we can prevent
under-inflation, flat tyres and, worse, blowouts," he explained.
Alonso said a sensor is attached to the tyre
which sends signal to the driver. Then data are collected to provide
information on tyre condition which eventually lead to increased tyre
life and reduction of fuel consumption.
Alonso noted that in the Middle East, 54 per
cent of measured trucks and trailers are under-inflated, resulting in
enormous and unpredictable costs for fleets. He added that in Europe,
out of the 125,000 breakdowns across the continent in 2015, 26.8 per
cent or 33,500 of these incidents were caused by tyre bursts. Thomas
Edelmann, founder and managing director of RoadSafetyUAE, said tyre
safety is a critical issue.
"We need to properly educate fleet operators and influence government policies," he said.
At the moment, the smart sensor is only
applicable for commercial or fleet vehicles. But Edelmann said that "the
installation of smart sensor on commercial vehicles is a big step in
keeping the roads safe".
"By having smart sensors on commercial vehicle
tyres, motorists will feel safe that the bus or truck in front or at
the back of them will not suddenly skid because of tyre burst," he
noted.
Drive safe with these tips
Unsafe tyres can easily create blowouts or
loss of traction which can result in accidents. Here's a safety
checklist for commercial tyre safety:
>Abide by the tyre's maximum recommended speed, which may be lower than posted speed limits
>Select the right tyre for the job,
considering the proper tyre size, load-carrying capacity, speed
capability and service type
>Maintain appropriate tyre pressure - A
tyre which has too much or too little air pressure could overheat or
become vulnerable to a tyre blowout. Set and maintain proper cold
inflation pressures.
>Truck drivers should conduct a pre-trip,
en-route, or post-trip inspection. If they observe any problems, the
commercial vehicle should be immediately taken off the road and not
operated again, until the problem is resolved
>It is important that all tyres on the
commercial vehicle be suitably matched in size. Mismatched tyres could
cause too much weight to be concentrated on a specific tyre or tyres,
adding too much stress
>If a tyre has extensive wear, such as
damaged treads or cracks and bald spots, it may not have adequate
traction on the road, making braking and steering dangerous. A worn tyre
is also vulnerable to blowouts. Inspect tyres frequently for damage
such as cuts, cracks, bulges and penetrations
>Dual tyre contact - Commercial vehicles
often utilise dual tyre configurations, placing two tyres in close
proximity to each other. If these two tyres make contact with each other
this can cause problems