KEY POINTS:
Truck drivers face having a camera in their cab that watches their every move.
But the drivers are welcoming the device, seeing it as providing a cast-iron defence when they are blamed for the sins of others.
Auckland concrete-truck driver Andrew Herd has never crashed his 20-tonne rig,
but is thankful he can call on his windscreen-mounted "video ref" in case he gets into strife.
His company, Allied Concrete, is one of 10 transport operators to have been trying the video system - which has a panoramic viewing range to record both what is happening on the road ahead and how their drivers are performing at the wheel.
The palm-sized DriveCam is attached to a computer programmed to record all abnormal driving movements - including hard braking and unsafe cornering - as well as crashes.
It can also show whether a driver is not wearing a seatbelt or is chatting on a cellphone.
Sudden sharp movements are enough to trigger the device to retain in its hard drive the previous 10 seconds of video footage, and then the following 10 seconds, for subsequent analysis.
The system can also be activated by the drivers if anything untoward happens and they fear a crash.
But promoters of the system, including leading transport insurer Lumley Insurance, are keen to head off any privacy concerns by noting that the technology does not enable drivers to be watched around the clock from their depots.
Although not all the firms involved in the trials have yet decided whether to sign up to the system long-term, Auckland importer Haydn Bowbyes says most drivers appear keen to keep their cameras.
"They don't want to give it [the system] back - it protects them."
National Distribution Union transport, energy and stores secretary Karl Andersen said none of his members had raised privacy concerns so far, but he wanted to learn more about the technology.
Mr Bowbyes said that although the camera was a valuable training aid the most dramatic video footage he had seen was of "scary" behaviour by other road users.
The only crash involving any of the more than 100 vehicles under surveillance by his system was caused by a car driver who turned into the path of a truck and who denied fault until confronted with evidence to the contrary.
"He claimed the truck was turning left, but it was going straight and as soon as he knew about the camera, that was the end of the story," Mr Bowbyes said.
"The camera doesn't lie - it's a video ref."
Without the cameras, it was one driver's word against another's, "and in the minds of many people, all truck drivers are guilty until proven innocent".
He had shared that view before seeing from the video footage the "scary stuff" many truckies had to put up with from others.
"We have seen drunk drivers weaving from side to side and a car in the Waikato passing a truck around a blind corner, across double yellow lines and around the wrong side of a traffic island."
He acknowledged room for improvement in the attitude of some truck drivers but said they were a minority, and the cameras were prompting better behaviour.
Mr Herd admitted mixed feelings when a camera was mounted in his truck several months ago, even though Allied says it did not compel any drivers to take part in a trial involving 10 of its Penrose-based vehicles.
"Sometimes I got annoyed because I felt I was being watched."
But he became a fan after being cut off by motorists and pushing a "panic button" to activate the device in case of a crash and any ensuing insurance claims.
"Some of the driving around you is shocking - if this helps to save lives, it's good for everybody."
Lumley Insurance fleet risk manager Jim Wiles said having the cameras in the trucks definitely produced better driver behaviour, not only reducing risks of injury and commercial losses but also saving on fuel and maintenance.
Although the 92 deaths involving trucks in 2005 represented about 20 per cent of the road toll, the Ministry of Transport says their drivers were the prime culprits in only 35 per cent of cases.
