Daimler Truck Mercedes system could prevent half of Truck accidents

According to the findings of development engineers at Mercedes-Benz following a fleet test conducted with a total of 1,000 Mercedes-Benz Actros trailer in 2005/2006, half of the serious truck accidents could be prevented. For the purposes of the trial, half of the trucks were equipped with the Lane Assistant, proximity control and stability control assistance systems.

The number of accidents for the vehicles fitted with the safety package was shown to be halved compared to the 500 trailer with a conventional specification; furthermore, where an accident did occur, the cost of the damage was 90% lower. The results were derived based on an observation period of twelve months and a total distance travelled of 106 million kilometres.

Press Release

The state-of-the-art assistance systems from Mercedes-Benz constitute a highly effective means of combating the principal causes of accidents, namely “rear-end collisions” and “veering off the road”. It was for this reason that these driver assistance systems were developed as a matter of high priority and successively introduced from the year 2000 onwards, starting with the Lane Assistant. The accident prevention highlight to date is the Active Brake Assist system, which has been available for Mercedes-Benz trucks for nearly two years now. If, in the event of an imminent collision, the driver fails to react despite multiple warnings, this system will automatically initiate a full application of the brakes. While Active Brake Assist is not always able to avoid accidents, its application of full braking power is always able to reduce the impact speed and therefore considerably mitigate the consequences of the collision. The system has so far clocked up around 350 million kilometres in customer vehicles, with a consistently positive track record.

The rapid spread of these technologies is essential if a wide-scale improvement in road traffic safety is to be achieved. In view of this, financial support is now being offered from several sides to facilitate their swift introduction. Mercedes-Benz, for instance, has put together attractively priced packages, which reduce the total cost by around a third compared to ordering the systems individually. Examples here include the Classic Safety Package and the Top Safety Package. In this way, it has been possible to boost the inclusion rate of the various options on the model variants they are available for by between 15% and 20%. Some motor vehicle insurers, such as Allianz, Daimler Financial Services, Kravag and Zürich Versicherung, offer premium discounts for trucks fitted with the corresponding safety features, while direct subsidies are available through the respective trade associations.

The assistance systems offered for Mercedes-Benz vehicles do not relieve drivers of their responsibility for driving safely. They can certainly aid them however by allowing them to concentrate better on the traffic around them, and can always come to their assistance whenever technology can react faster and more effectively than humans.


Source: Mercedes system could prevent half of Truck accidents|BenzInsider.com - The Official Mercedes-Benz Fan Blog

Yowz look at that truck. That would scare the hell out of motorist here in the U.S. Too bad Mercedes owns Freightliner otherwise we'd have that monster over here.

M

I wonder what percentage of the market Mercedes Benz would take if they started selling trucks in the US. I would love to seem them on the roads.

Great idea! Mercedes will make a fortune out of it, but why didn't they think of this in the firs place instead of putting the Side-lane assistance in small four door saloons E.g the S-class and A8, why not put it in trucks in the first place

Gullwing said:

I wonder what percentage of the market Mercedes Benz would take if they started selling trucks in the US. I would love to seem them on the roads.

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I think they'd take a huge bite of it. The Sprinter (badge as a Dodge) has taken the light-truck market by storm. That is all I see now.

M

vroom_vroom said:

but why didn't they think of this in the firs place instead of putting the Side-lane assistance in small four door saloons E.g the S-class and A8, why not put it in trucks in the first place

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Lane Assist was introduced on the Merc Trucks in the year 2000.The saloons are getting it now.

merve_extreme said:

Lane Assist was introduced on the Merc Trucks in the year 2000.The saloons are getting it now.

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Was a joke that, saying S-classes and A8's are small compared to trucks.

But thanks anyway

The Mercedes Actros is a very popular truck in Europe. Although quite expensive compared to the competition, many firms order them because of their good fuel economy, reliability and driver comfort. The Actros has won numerous quality awards.

In a competitive truck market the Actros is one truck that really stands out.

^and it looks damn good asell..