An accident involving a truck can quickly end with serious or even fatal injuries for the weaker party, whether it is a car or a pedestrian, due to the huge difference in mass. A 40-tonne truck with a speed of 80 km/h has the kinetic energy of a car doing 400 km/h. No crumple zone in the world would be enough to contain a crash with such energy. A collision between two trucks can also result in grave consequences for those involved.
For more safety in traffic, assistance systems need to actively support the driver in situations recognised as dangerous by the systems without absolving him or her of responsibility. Mercedes-Benz has further increased the safety level of its trucks with systems such as the fifth-generation emergency braking assistant Active Brake Assist (ABA 5), Sideguard Assist with pedestrian and cyclist detection, Active Drive Assist for partially automated driving (SAE level 2) as well as MirrorCam in lieu of main and wide-angle mirrors. The current Actros generation as well as a large number of Arocs models boast the highest standard of all current Mercedes-Benz trucks in terms of safety architecture and assistance systems installed.
Active Sideguard Assist with automated braking function
Being on the road in a heavy truck in city traffic, sometimes on narrow roads and with confusing intersections is a challenge for many professional drivers. This especially applies to turning manoeuvres when the driver needs to pay attention to traffic lights, signage as well as oncoming and cross traffic in front and pedestrians and cyclists to the side.
Vulnerable traffic participants are often unaware that a truck driver may not even be able to see them in certain situations. In addition, heavy trucks with large wheelbases or trailers often turn off in a way that is not easily understood by other traffic participants: before turning, trucks first drive straight ahead into the intersection, to make allowance for the trail characteristics of the semi-trailer or trailer. A cyclist or pedestrian crossing on the passenger side of the truck therefore sometimes doesn’t even think that the truck is going to turn off, but assumes that it is going to continue straight on.
In such situations, Sideguard Assist, developed by Mercedes-Benz Trucks and available for many Actros, Arocs and Econic model variants since 2016, can intervene in a helpful way. Sideguard Assist can warn the driver by means of a multi-stage process during a right turn in case the system recognises, for example, a pedestrian or cyclist in the monitoring zone.
The MirrorCam, which replaces the conventional main and wide-angle mirrors, works hand-in-hand with the Sideguard Assist. The assistance system can help to avoid accidents on the passenger side when the vehicle turns to the right, and it can warn the driver both visually and audibly before a collision occurs. Sideguard Assist in the new Mercedes-Benz Arocs is able to recognise and warn of obstacles to the right of the vehicle along the entire length of the vehicle. To do this, it calculates the sweep curve of the trailer. If MirrorCam is installed, Sideguard Assist warnings are displayed on the right-hand display thus keeping all relevant information consolidated in the one place.
From June 2021, Mercedes-Benz will offers Active Sideguard Assist (ASGA) in addition to Sideguard Assist, with a potentially life-saving additional function: The new system no longer just warns the driver about moving cyclists or pedestrians on the co-driver’s side, as is the case with Sideguard Assist, but can also initiate automatic braking at a turning speed of 20 km/h until the vehicle comes to a standstill, should the driver fail to react to the audible warnings. Active Sideguard Assist recognises the need for this intervention from the angle of the steering wheel and, ideally, prevents any collision. Mercedes-Benz Trucks is the first truck manufacturer worldwide to offer such a system with an automatic braking function and thereby wants to contribute to further reducing the number of right-turning accidents.
Active Drive Assist 2 with emergency stop function
Active Drive Assist (ADA) also represents a step forward in terms of safety and turns the new Actros into the world’s first series truck to be capable of partially automated driving (SAE level 2). Under certain preconditions it actively supports the driver in the longitudinal and lateral guidance of the truck and can automatically maintain the distance to the vehicle ahead, accelerate and also steer if the necessary system conditions such as sufficient curve radius or clearly visible road markings are met. If the driver comes too close to a vehicle in front, ADA can automatically brake the truck until the pre-determined minimum distance has been re-established. Once that is the case, the system can then re-accelerate the truck up to the pre-determined speed.
Available from June 2021, the newest-generation ADA 2 is capable of initiating an emergency stop if it recognises that the driver has not been actively involved in the driving process for a longer period of time, for example, due to health problems. First, the system requests the driver via optical and acoustic signals to place his or her hands on the wheel. But if he or she does not respond after 60 seconds, even after multiple warnings, by responding with braking, steering, accelerating or operating the vehicle systems via the buttons on the steering wheel, within its limits the system can brake until the truck safely comes to a standstill within its lane while warning the following vehicles using the hazard lights. The emergency stop manoeuvre initiated by the system can be stopped by using a kick-down at any time. If the truck comes to a standstill, the system can automatically engage the new electronic parking brake. In addition, the doors are unlocked so that paramedics and other first responders can directly reach the driver in case of a medical emergency.
