Improving the Truck Driver’s Experience

Our team dove into the interactions that occur during the driving experience. Through our own research and continued customer discovery, we found that the predominant on-the-road issue was cars encroaching on a truck’s necessary stopping area—what we would call “cutting off” the truck. With our refined problem statement, we began brainstorming possible solutions. Our brainstorming sessions produced a prototype: a laser that projected a line on the ground in front of the truck, illustrating to car drivers the needed stopping distance of the truck. After several iterations of this prototype, we gained a sponsorship from Power Technology, Inc., a Little Rock company specializing in lasers and optics. In conjunction with our sponsor, we developed a custom, built-to-spec laser for our project.

We have engaged in further customer discovery with our prototype, and we have consistently received two points of feedback from drivers. The first concerns safety—truckers are worried that attaching a laser to a semi-truck could potentially distract other drivers on the road. The second concerns effectiveness—truck drivers are unsure that the prototype will actually alter car driver behavior. We are continuing to test these two concerns.

Our team noticed that problematic on-the-road interactions also exist on the University of Arkansas campus. After several accidents, crosswalk safety has become a significant worry at the U of A, especially at night when pedestrians are difficult to see. Implementation of crosswalk safety technology, such as in-ground lights or flashing LED signs, has lagged due to budgetary constraints. We are currently exploring the efficacy of leveraging our on-ground projection method (developed through our truck driver experience project) to make crosswalks safer at potentially lower cost.