A DRIVING electronics specialist has launched a new device to help prevent the almost 2,000 bridge strikes that take place in Britain each year.
According to data from Network Rail, 1,926 bridge strikes occurred across the network of railway bridges between March 2018 and March 2019, of which HGVs accounted for 68% of incidents.
To help prevent this prevalent issue, Snooper has released a new device called the Truckmate Bridge-Saver; a warning system, specifically designed to alert drivers of large vehicles when they are approaching impassable bridges or tunnels.
Phil Jones, head of sales and marketing at Snooper, said: ‘In the last 12 months, bridge strikes recorded by Network Rail resulted in over 200,000 minutes of railway delays and cost £16 million.
‘We believe that the number of bridge strikes has been on the increase in recent years due to many truck drivers opting to use their smartphone for navigation rather than a specialised truck sat nav. With this in mind, we wanted to create a simple device that would allow truck drivers to keep using their generic map apps, but with added protection against bridge strikes.’
The device has a small five inch screen that displays a red warning when an upcoming bridge is too low for the vehicle to enter. The display also features a speedometer to provide an accurate speed of the vehicle through the internal GPS antenna.
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