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Transport Research Laboratory launches independent product assessment service

Date: 12 May 2015   |   Author:

Transport Research Laboratory has launched a new independent review process for suppliers in the automotive industry that want to put their in-vehicle products and services to the test.

Stephanie Cynk, human factors researcher at TRL, said the business can use its independent status and history with testing vehicle safety systems to provide an impartial evaluation process.

She said: "Many third-party in-vehicle systems come to the market making claims suggesting that they will revolutionise safety with little evidence to support such statements."

TRL has developed a protocol for the evaluation of in-vehicle systems designed to provide a safety benefit.

The protocol is based around four key categories of assessment: relevance, deployment, usability and resilience. A product is scored in each category with an overall score determined to allow a TRL recommendation status to be given to the product.

TRL is paid by the supplier for taking a product through the audit process, but a spokesman for the company said each company runs the risk of putting a product through and it not meeting a recommended status.

TRL does not publish the results of the review, but if a company is awarded a "highly recommended" they are then free to promote that product as having been independently tested.

Technology supplier Romex was the first company to achieve "highly recommended" status for its Driver Protection App.

DPA is a smartphone app developed by Romex that limits smartphone functionality when a vehicle is in motion.

Romex won BusinessCar's Techies award for Best Risk Management in 2013 with its Driver Protection App.



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