Effectiveness of Truck Rollover Warning Systems

Abstract

Different types of intelligent rollover system deployed by road agencies across North America are investigated. The importance of weight is addressed for maximum effectiveness of rollover warning messages for commercial vehicles in a potential rollover situation on sharp curves or exit ramps. The type of information that may be used to activate a rollover is discussed to analyze the number of correctly warned vehicles compared with the number of false warnings generated by the rollover warning system. A case study of the effectiveness of an intelligent rollover system is presented. On the basis of this case study, it was found that speed-based rollover warning systems generated anywhere from 44 percent to 49 percent more false rollover warnings for commercial vehicles than did rollover warning systems that employed weight information in the rollover decision criteria.