SmartWitness is launching a ‘van cam’ safety product aimed at commercial vehicles ranging from 1.5 tonnes to 4.5 tonnes.

London-based SmartWitness is already well established in the HGV sector with its KP1 forward-facing camera and is now looking to break into the van market with the launch of VanProtect.

The VanProtect system includes a forward-facing, high-resolution video camera that fits neatly behind the rear view mirror and can be locked making it tamper proof. It also features a rear-view infra-red camera for manoeuvring in the dark, and a colour monitor on the dashboard.

Designed to provide the same technology as the KP1 camera does for HGVs, the camera provides 1080 HD footage across a 170-degree range.  In the event of an incident, sensors calculate the speed and force of collision and the processor in the camera automatically buffers the previous 20 seconds prior to impact so  the details leading up to the incident are recorded.

SmartWitness CEO Paul Singh said: “Van fleets tend to get involved in more road incidents that haulage fleets.  They are often in urban areas which have higher numbers of road incidents and there are more vehicles in most van fleets.”

He added that van fleets are also increasingly being targeted by criminal gangs making bogus claims for whiplash injuries “and you simply have to have video evidence to get rid of these kinds of fraudulent claims”.

The system will also flag up to fleet managers those van drivers in need of extra training to eliminate poor driving habits.

VanProtect will be launched at this year's CV Show at Birmingham NEC from 26-28 April

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