Avoiding accidents or, at the very least, reducing the severity of their consequences is a top priority for Mercedes-Benz Trucks - and this is why the company is always researching and developing new and effective, safety, assistance systems, while regularly optimising the existing systems to ensure safety of its customers and other road users.
Since 1972, Commercial Vehicle Accident Research at Daimler Trucks has been investigating accidents involving Mercedes-Benz trucks, in order to derive optimisation measures for active and passive safety.
In the development of safety and driver assistance systems Mercedes-Benz Trucks has been playing a pioneering role for some time. Numerous systems have been installed in the individual model series long before such systems became legally required. For example, as early as 1981 Mercedes-Benz became the first manufacturer to introduce the anti-lock braking system (ABS) for trucks. In 2006 Active Brake Assist (ABA) heralded a new era for safety systems: for the first time a truck could automatically brake for slowly moving obstacles in front.
In addition to the latest innovation in assistance systems such as Active Brake Assist 5, Active Drive Assist 2, etc, there are many more functions and initiatives which contribute to vehicle and road safety.
Olaf Petersen, the General Manager at Daimler Commercial Vehicles MENA believes that: “The transport industry keeps the world moving and it is our responsibility to support it by making our vehicles even safer still; so that customers of Mercedes-Benz Trucks will still be moving the world in another 125 years. Zero accidents are the declared goal of the concept of "integral safety" pursued by Mercedes-Benz Trucks”
"This year we are delighted to announce the renewal of our partnership with RoadSafetyUAE, a CSR and Engagement platform aiming to raise awareness for traffic safety. With a similar vision as Daimler Truck's, RoadSafetyUAE's aim is to contribute to reducing road traffic fatalities, injuries, and accidents in the UAE. Together, we continue to work on improving road safety and awareness through various campaigns and efforts,” concluded Olaf.
With this in mind, Mercedes-Benz Trucks has created an essential A-Z guide to its approach to safety:
- Attention Assist
Increases driving safety and helps to avoid accidents by warning the driver if fatigue or lack of attention are detected.
- Active Brake Assist 5
The fifth generation of the system assists the driver in under ideal conditions. And within the system's capabilities, it can apply maximum full-stop braking when approaching stationary and moving objects by applying a partial or maximum full-stop braking for moving pedestrians*, thus mitigating and even preventing accidents entirely.
*Pedestrian detection remains active in a speed range of up to 50 km/h at most.
- Comfort Telephony
Enables the driver to talk via the phone without taking the hands off the steering wheel.
- Active Drive Assist
First semi-autonomous driving system in a series produced truck. Supports the driver in lateral and longitudinal direction.'
- Electronic Parking Brake
Engages automatically in case of emergency and is released if the driver forgets to release it.
- Fleetboard
Mercedes-Benz in-house telematics system. Able to read from all ECU's all codes constantly. Support preventive maintenance and increases uptime.
- Genuine Parts
Provides best possible quality for the Mercedes-Benz Trucks.
- Hold Function and Hill Holder
Prevents the truck from rolling back when accelerating at an incline.
- Lane Keeping Assist
Warns the driver on time before drifting out of the lane.
- MirrorCam
Provides best possible view to the driver by adjusting the angle of the camera lens so that the end of the trailer is always visible. By removing the outside mirror, the view next to the A-pillar is much better when approaching conjunctions and roundabouts, thus improving safety. Reduction of fuel consumption is also achieved due to aerodynamic design.
- Predictive Powertrain Control
Supports the driver by using 3D maps to optimise the fuel consumption. The driver can fully concentrate on the driving tasks and can be sure that the truck optimises fuel consumption itself.
- Quality
Every vehicle is developed, built and tested with daily use in mind. Endurance testing of more than 6 million kilometres in the Middle East under extreme conditions was done on the Actros prior to the launch here.
- Sideguard Assist
Assistance system that controls the environment next to the truck. Warns the driver if there is a pedestrian or bicycle next to the truck when turning. Prevents dangerous accidents.
- Touch Control Buttons
Offers the driver the possibility to control all functions without taking the hands off the steering wheel.
- Underride Guard (Rear)
Enhanced passive safety to protect other road users since it is more difficult to drive under the vehicle rear end.
- Vehicle Pre-delivery inspection
During the PDI, the workshop ensures all systems of the vehicles are in perfect condition thereby guaranteeting the overall safety of the vehicle.
- Wireless Charging
Ensures that the battery of the mobile phone is always charged without a connecting cable which can prevent the driver or co-driver from tripping over.
- 125 Years
Mercedes-Benz Trucks celebrates 125 years of anniversary this year. The products and safety assistance systems are the result of 125 years of innovation and passion.
- Zero accident vision
Mercedes-Benz Truck's vision is to reduce accidents to a minimum - this is called the so called Zero Accident vision.
- Zero accident vision
Mercedes-Benz Truck's vision is to reduce accidents to a minimum - this is called the so called Zero Accident vision.
