Night vision option available for Kenworth Class 8s

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LOUSIVILLE, Ky. — Kenworth Trucks is adding night vision technology as an option for its Class 8 product line.

The company says the technology will help drivers see up to 1500 feet down the road, about five times further than a driver can see with standard headlamps.

The Night Vision System, produced in partnership with Bendix, will be ready for the third quarter of this year, according to Kenworth Chief Engineer Jim Bechtold.

The new technology option will be priced under US$4,000.

The Kenworth Night Vision System joins Kenworth’s GPS navigation system, and curbside camera options introduced previously.

Employing the same technology pioneered by the military and made famous during the Gulf War, the Night Vision system uses a heat-sensing, infrared camera mounted outside the cab to detect and transmit images to an in-cab display unit. The system’s extended vision range gives drivers more time to react to potential road hazards than with headlights alone.

When viewing Kenworth’s high-resolution, flat-panel video monitor, drivers see a real-time, black and white, thermal image of the driver’s front field of view. The warmer the object, the whiter the image.

Because the camera is not affected by light, the display image is not susceptible to glare from on-coming headlights. However, fog does reduce its effectiveness, the company says.

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