"See-through" semi truck reduces the hazards of passing

As RVers, half the fun of the lifestyle is the traveling. When we can, many of us eschew the nation's interstates in favor of the less traveled, more scenic, but sadly, narrower stretches of roadway. One of the drawbacks of the backroads – getting stuck behind a slow-moving semi-truck. On a stretch of two-lane blacktop, passing a truck can become a test suited best for those with intestinal fortitude. Can you pull out far enough to see if there's something coming at you without getting clobbered?

In Argentina, where most of the roadways are narrow, single-lane in one direction, it's understandable that 80% of fatality accidents happen when somebody tries to pass – and fails. Enter Samsung, the electronic manufacturing behemoth. Samsung has a large presence in Argentina, and somebody in the company thought safety, and also thought of what the company is famous for – electronics – and put the two together. The result? The Samsung Safety Truck.



In a pilot project in Argentina, Samsung equipped a semi-truck with a forward-facing video camera on the rig's nose, and a huge, four-panel monitor mounted on the back of the trailer. Result – the driver following the rig can "see through" the rig to determine if the roadway is clear for passing. The test rig proved the idea worked, now the company is working with governments to work out protocols for possible roll-out in the real world.