It’s a fact that most accidents that involve a school bus happen outside the bus when children run into the road, walk too close to the bus or kneel down to get something that has fallen under the bus. As careful as bus drivers may be, sometimes they just can’t see a child in certain areas outside the bus. The new Saf-T-Zone pedestrian detection system will help drivers avoid unnecessary pedestrian accidents in the front, back and sides of our buses, even within blind spots.
Saf-T-Zone is comprised of LED ground lights on the cross-view mirrors as well as multiple radar units on the 77GHz frequency band, which will be installed around a Thomas Built bus. These higher frequency radars, which are used for autonomous vehicles and high-resolution meteorological observations, allow more precise detection and measurement of a pedestrian or object within ten feet of the front, back or side of the school bus – the entire traditional danger zone is visible. When a pedestrian is detected, the system will alert the driver on an in-cabin tablet as well as through caution lights on the cross-view mirrors. Saf-T-Zone will be optional on all Thomas Built buses.
