An eye on the road

23/3/2010

Haydn Bowbyes (1987) has been in the news recently in his role as project manager for in-vehicle camera systems for Lumley General Insurance.

Lumley introduced DriveCam in-vehicle cameras four years ago and last month footage captured by a camera mounted inside the cab of a Canterbury Waste Services Ltd truck captured a number of errant driving acts – one of which brought about a police complaint.

The cameras have recorded cars running red lights and stop signs, running other cars off the road through dangerous overtaking, pulling out in front of oncoming traffic, driving three abreast on two-lane roundabouts and skidding around corners in wet conditions.

Haydn said in a newspaper interview following the release of the footage the cameras could be tailored for other vehicles, including buses and taxis, he said.

There were also $995 units for private-vehicle use. They could also be used by parents to monitor their children’s driving habits.

Canterbury Waste Services (CWS) general manager Gareth James said as well as helping with driver training and monitoring, the cameras provided protection for the company if its drivers were blamed for causing accidents.

“Whenever there’s an incident and someone suggests our driver was in the wrong, we say `let’s have a look at the video’.

“It gives us strong protection to prove what actually happened,” he said.

In the two years since Drivecam was introduced at CWS, the system had not recorded any incidents caused by company drivers.