What Is Smart Lite?
"A Breakthrough In Commercial Trucking That Will Save Lives"
An Open Letter By Marty Vanderhoek: The Inventor Of Smart Lite
December 3, 2014
My name is Marty
Vanderhoek. I am the creator and inventor of a commercial truck safety product
called Smart Lite. Smart Lite is a commercial truck safety product that virtually
eliminates the front end blind spots that professional drivers of large trucks
are plagued with on a daily basis.
As a professional driver for most of
my life I can admit to a front end blind spot accident in Seattle Washington
and I can also attest to the countless number of close calls I’ve had over the
30 years of my professional driving career.
Statistics prove that over 60% of all
semi trailer truck accidents are directly related to the front end blind spots
of large commercial vehicles. This is the area at the front of the truck on both
the left and right side of the trucks front fenders.
In North America alone over 5000
deaths and 140,000 injuries occur annually due to big truck front end blind
spots.
When most people see large trucks these
days that are covered with mirrors and sometimes cameras they automatically assume
that the driver can see anything at the front of the truck, down at the sides
or behind the truck.
Unfortunately this is not true.
If a smaller vehicle, pedestrian,
motorcycle or cyclist is in a certain position beside the truck and just
forward enough of the door the truck driver does not know for certain that
something is in that particular area of the truck known as the blind spot or no
zone. Because the driver of the truck is sitting so high in the cab the driver
cannot see that front end area even with all of the mirrors attached to the
truck.
Smart Lite utilises mirror to mirror
technology to completely eliminate these front end blind spots for professional
drivers. All large trucks have side mirrors that a driver uses to view
everything beside and behind the truck. But although the driver can see behind
or beside his or her truck the driver still cannot always see everything that
is forward of the doors on the truck where the side mirrors are mounted. The driver
cannot see any smaller vehicle, cyclist or pedestrian that would be beside the
truck and in the surrounding area of the trucks front fenders.
Smart Lite is mounted on both sides at
the rear and at the top of a drivers truck. This is the place where the trucks
reverse or back up lights are typically mounted on semi trailer trucks.
Smart Lite is a replacement for the
original back up lights that most trucks are equipped with but can also be installed as a
new feature on a truck if the trucks reverse lights are mounted somewhere else
on the truck.
Smart Lite is manufactured with a
back up light or turn signal on one side and a convex mirror on the opposite
side. After a driver installs a set of Smart Lites he or she will be set for
much safer and rest assured driving. From the cab of the truck a driver now
simply needs to just take a split second glance through the side mirror of the
truck and back to the mirror built into Smart Lite.
The view he or she now sees through
the Smart Lite mirror is anything and everything that could possibly be hidden in
the surrounding blind spot or no zone area of the truck. Smart Lite uses a very
simple technology but there has never been any mirror or camera system
developed that works as well as Smart Lite for giving professional drivers the
comfort, assurance and warning of any vehicle, cyclist or pedestrian that could
be hidden in the no zone area or blind spot of the trucks front end on either
the left or right side .
Of the over 200 professional drivers
that were chosen to evaluate and test Smart Lite not one of these drivers would
ever again want to drive a semi trailer truck without a set of Smart Lites
installed on his or her truck.
The comfort and assurance Smart Lite
offers of always knowing what could be hiding in the front end blind spots of a
drivers truck is something that will save tens of thousands of lives and
hundreds of thousands of injuries around the world every year.
As a life long professional driver
and the creator of Smart Lite I truly believe that Smart Lite should be found
on every commercial truck around the world. I’m as proud and gratified as
anyone could ever be to be given the opportunity to make our roads and highways
around the world safer for everyone that shares them.
Marty Vanderhoek
About Smart Lite
60% of all truck accidents are directly contributed to the front end blind spot of commercial trucks. In North America alone over 5,000 deaths and 140,000 injuries occur annually. At Smart Lite we believe that those statistics are far too high.
What is Smart Lite? Smart Lite is designed to reduce crashes, to save lives and to reduce injuries. The system was designed by Marty Vanderhoek, a professional commercial truck driver with over 20 years experience in the industry. It is a simple, yet unique design that utilises simple mirror to mirror technology to completely expose the entire front end area of the truck to the driver from inside the cab. As a result. the device offers the driver a clear and unrestricted view of any vehicle, motorcycle, cyclist or pedestrian that could be in the front or blind spots or no zone area of the truck.
No high tech cameras, mirrors or unreliable beeper systems. With Smart Lite the driver instantly sees whatever is in the front and blind spot areas of the truck by a split second glance into the West Coast mirror. For more information on the Smart Lite system please visit our web page or contact us at info@xlite.ca
Marty Vanderhoek is a life long trucker from Langley, B.C., Canada whose been at the wheel since 1975, from fish to fruit he’s pulled it all.
His 35 years experience behind the wheel has taught him the many dangers that truckers face on a daily basis. One area is that front end blind spot that plagues every truck driver. How on earth can you see that car or motorcycle that is running beside you and a little ahead of your door?. Essentially, you can't! Until Now....
Drawing upon his 35 years experience behind the wheel Marty invented the Smart Lite; A simple system which he says is “A breakthrough in commercial trucking that will save lives” According to Marty "The Smart Lite device is revolutionary in that it allows the operator to see what is occupying the space in that front end blind spot. Before Smart Lite there was no device or system that allowed the operator to make a 100% visual determination of what was beside him and a little ahead of his door. With Smart Lite that problem is now solved."
Indeed, this simple yet revolutionary safety device is already being hailed by commercial truckers for its simplicity and effectiveness. The device has already received an endorsement by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) as a safety feature that greatly improves trucker safety.
"A Breakthrough In Commercial Trucking That Will Save Lives!"
Related
Marty I saw you on Dragons Den and just wanted to say how inspiring your story is. I grew up in Langley, BC and know how dangerous the roads can be on the main highways and I can see why this is a critical product for all trucks. Your story is absolutely inspiring and you are an incredible person. Best of luck with Jim!!
ReplyDelete