What we're doing / the experiment
The Massachusetts legislature is asking us to measure MassDOT's vehicles for their direct vision performance. Additionally, we need to measure our contractor’s vehicles for their direct vision performance.
What is Direct Vision?
"Direct vision" is what a driver can see directly with their own eyes. "Indirect vision" is what they can see with the aid of devices such as mirrors and cameras. The "blind zone" is the area where drivers cannot see anything, either directly or indirectly.
To fulfill the requirements of the law, we are partnering with the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (an entity of the U.S. Department of Transportation) to measure how much direct vision is available to drivers in the various vehicles that make up the MassDOT fleet. We are also developing a process to partner with some of our contractors to measure their vehicles.
Though the law does not require it, we are partnering with up to 10 municipalities to include some of their fleet vehicles in our study so that both the measurement process and the results can be more widely shared and understood. We identified cities and towns that have had serious injury or fatal crash in the last 10 years in which a large truck was involved. Within that list, we have prioritized among towns who have the same number of truck-involved crashes by using our top 5% at-risk communities with respect to vulnerable road users. We will give each municipality that participates insight into the study and a way to compare fleet vehicles for Direct Vision. We will also provide educational materials and strategies for sharing with their constituencies about Direct vision and why it is important.
Why we're doing it
MassDOT has adopted a Safe System approach to roadway safety. This means we are interested in all the various components that contribute to — or detract from — roadway safety. One of those components is Safe Vehicles. As stated in our 2023 Strategic Highway Safety Plan, we intend to take an active role to affect change in vehicle design, features, and use. Safe vehicles are a core component of a Safe System Approach, as vehicle sizes and designs affect the occurrence and severity of collisions.
While vehicle design is usually thought of as a federal responsibility, we believe we have a role to play at the state level to improve the safety of vehicles that travel on state highways and roads in our cities and towns. This study on direct vision will help us better understand which vehicles we should purchase in the future to achieve better safety outcomes. We will share that knowledge with cities and towns.
Finally, as fleet managers across the Commonwealth take on the important work of electrifying their fleets, there is an opportunity to simultaneously incorporate best practice and evidence-based research about Direct Vision standards into those purchasing plans. We are in the right place here in Massachusetts, and at the right time to make meaningful investments in our vehicle fleets that will contribute to improved safety on our roads.
To our knowledge, we are the first State DOT in the U.S. to undertake a Direct Vision fleet measurement study, and we look forward to continuing to be a leader by sharing what we learn with other states.
What we hope to learn
Through this study, we hope to learn these four things:
- What is the range of Direct Vision performance in the MassDOT fleet, vehicles of our contractors, and vehicles of partnering municipalities? This will provide a meaningful baseline from which to build a strategy for improving the overall visibility of the fleet, as well as potentially set a course for future policy.
- Which countermeasures are most appropriate for various results of Direct Vision performance of each vehicle? While we ultimately hope to arrive at a minimum level of Direct Vision for vehicle purchases moving forward, we know we will also need to address the current vehicles in the fleet with various modifications or retrofits to increase Direct Vision in the short-term.
- How do people engage with the concept of Direct Vision? The phrase "blind spot" is somewhat commonly used, but terms like Direct Vision, Indirect Vision, and even Blind Zone can be less familiar. Through simple but effective graphics and visual demonstrations, we hope to raise awareness of vehicle design changes that have been taking place for decades and what potential impacts those design changes have on the safety of people outside of the vehicles themselves.
- What other questions should we be asking? As with any good research project, we hope to come out of it with additional questions worthy of follow-up consideration. We also hope to identify new partners through the research process who can help us build a coalition to continue the conversation and implementation of safety countermeasures.
Who's involved
- MassDOT
- U.S. Department of Transportation Volpe Center
- City of Boston
- City of Everett
- City of Gardner
- City of Lynn
- City of Medford
- City of Needham
- City of Somerville
- City of Waltham
- City of Westfield