Tell us about Brigade?
Brigade Electronics is a worldwide leading provider of safety devices and solutions for commercial vehicles and machinery. Our products work to reduce the risk of collisions and protect vulnerable road users by minimising vehicle blind spots and assisting drivers to manoeuvre safely.
Founded in 1976 by Chris Hanson-Abbott OBE, Brigade Electronics introduced the very first reversing alarm to Europe and has been at the forefront of championing vehicle and plant safety ever since, pioneering new products, and developing and patenting new technology.
Our product portfolio includes 360-degree camera systems, camera monitor systems, White Sound reversing alarms, obstacle detection sensors, obstacle detection radar and digital recorders.
Summarise how Brigade can help customers?
We are a dedicated team of people that are passionate about saving lives by providing commercial vehicle and mobile machinery drivers, fleet managers, and manufacturers around the world with safety systems, data and services that help improve efficiency and prevent collisions between vehicles and pedestrians, cyclists, other vehicles and objects.
We love to pioneer new technologies and then develop and refine them into industry leading, high quality and reliable solutions for our OEM and aftermarket customers.
Tell us about Brigade’s new collision avoidance system?
Sidescan Predict is our next generation of collision avoidance systems. The system uses artificial intelligence to constantly gather object detection data, such as the speed and distance of a cyclist or other vulnerable road user from a vehicle.
With the consultation for updates to the London’s Direct Vision Standard opening in October 2022, we believe that technology like Sidescan Predict is very likely to be included.
Transport for London always wanted a system that could be on continuously. However, this causes an issue with potential driver distractions because the existing technology was only designed for low-speed manoeuvring. However, with Sidescan Predict the collision protection is active with or without the indicators on.
The introduction of the Highway Code Hierarchy, meaning that HGVs will now bear the burden of responsibility in the event of an incident, is also making fleet operators think more carefully about how they can enhance vehicle safety.
Even if you are not driving in Greater London, the approved solutions for the Direct Vision Standard, along with other industry accreditations, such as FORS, CLOCS and Van Excellence, are ideal templates for mitigating the risks of collisions.
Tell us about your partnership with the Van Excellence scheme?
At the recent CV Show we were joined on our stand by Logistics UK to raise awareness of the updates to the Van Excellence Scheme, which requires all new vans entering fleets to be fitted with safety equipment, such as reversing alarms, sensors and cameras.
As Logistics UK’s Van Gold partner, we also celebrated the launch of Brigade VAN – our range of vehicle safety devices tailored specifically for the van market. As part of the Van Excellence Audit requirements, we have created a risk assessment to help van operators assess which vehicle safety equipment will be most suitable for their needs.
Emily Hardy, Marketing Manager of Brigade UK