A New Hampshire firm says it has developed a new onboard computer for large trucks that could prevent rollover accidents with the use of GPS technology, according to the Boston Globe. Other rollover protection systems use an array of truck-mounted sensors to measure speed and side-to-side movement. The PowerVue computer, developed by Manchester-based Cadec Global LLC, uses a stream of data from GPS satellites to determine whether a truck is traveling too fast to turn safely. PowerVue won't automatically slow down the truck. Instead, it will sound an alarm to warn the driver he's going too fast. Then it will relay the data over a cellular data link to the trucking company headquarters. Battelle Memorial Institute, a nonprofit think tank, estimated that about half of all rollovers are caused by excessive speed, and Cadec Global believes the PowerVue system could reduce such accidents by as much as 50 percent. The Boston Globe reports that the PowerVue will go on sale in the first quarter of 2008 for $2,450, and can be installed in old trucks as well as new ones.
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