Road accidents are one of the top 10 causes of premature death in Canada with about 2,000 people dying each year and tens of thousands more injured. Worldwide, traffic accidents kill more than one million people, according to the World Health Organization – ranking right up there with HIV/AIDS, cancer and tuberculosis as a leading cause of death in middle- and low-income countries.
However, tech giant Samsung hopes to reduce those numbers with a "transparent" transport truck.
A wireless camera attached to the front of the truck is connected to four outdoor screens at the back of the truck, allowing the following vehicle to see the road in front of the truck. And it works even at night.
"This allows drivers to have a better view when deciding whether it is safe to overtake," the company wrote in a statement. "Another advantage of the Safety Truck is that it may reduce the risk of accidents caused by sudden braking or animals crossing the road."
The aim is help drivers make better, safer decisions when stuck behind a slow-moving truck on a two-lane highway. The South Korean company tested its trucks in Argentina, where road injury is the seventh leading cause of premature death – ahead of diabetes and breast cancer; one person dies every hour in a traffic accident. In an online video demonstrating how the truck works, Samsung says many fatalities are the result of drivers attempting to overtake as the country is full of two-lane roads.
Keio University in Japan also developed a "see-through" technology for the Toyota Prius. Researchers used cameras mounted around the car, which projected images onto the interiors.
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