Sign up for our weekly email to stay on top of the latest news and insights!
Source: The following is excerpted from a post by Matthew Hansen on NZAutoCar.com about a new technology being employed by New Zealand police to detect commercial vehicle braking issues. The police will be using mobile thermal imaging equipment to ferret out brake defects and thus take potentially dangerous vehicles off the road.
AUCKLAND, N.Z. — Two new pieces of thermal imaging technology are set to be debuted by the New Zealand Police, all in the pursuit of spotting vehicles of all shapes and sizes with brake problems.
Six new BM20200 mobile roller brake testers are set to be rolled out to the NZ Police’s commercial vehicle safety teams, along with 84 handheld thermal imaging devices. Six mobile weigh stations will be in activity, with handheld devices to be handed out to each vehicle on the commercial vehicle safety team.
Related post:
In NZ, 300 Buses Undergo Urgent Brake Tests
The mobile test units enable commercial vehicle safety teams to conduct roadside brake tests on any vehicle weighing up to 20,000kg. They can even be used on uneven terrain, gravel, or sand.
Brake problems are a particular issue for trucks, with their significantly higher mass making them much harder to stop in time to avoid accidents. Incidents involving heavy vehicles account for 20 per cent of the country’s road accidents and have a higher chance of being fatal.
“By investing in new technology that helps identify possible brake failures we can prevent potential harm being caused,” said Superintendent Steve Greally, director of road policing.
“We have been working with Waka Kotahi to ensure the MRBTs being rolled out aligns with the fixed inground roller brake machines being installed in CVSC, enabling the same high-test standard and data processing.”
“The design is simple with strong and flexible mechanical solutions, but the main benefit is that there are no particular requirements to the testing area surface meaning we can undertake a brake test anytime, anywhere,” he added.
Sign up for our weekly email to stay on top of the latest news and insights!
“A TID displays the temperature of the brake drum or disk on each wheel. If the thermal image shows a drum or disk with a different temperature compared to others on the vehicle, there may be an issue with the brakes not being fully operational, which would trigger the need for a further inspection.
The entire post can be viewed by clicking HERE.
