Daimler Truck’s latest safety announcements will ensure its systems go far beyond stricter safety regulations set to come in effect later this year.
Come July 2024, all trucks, buses and touring coaches newly registered in the EU will have to comply with the regulations of the updated General Safety Regulation (GSR).
The regulations have already been in place for new vehicle models since July 2022. The GSR mandates a whole series of driver assistance systems to further increase road safety for all parties involved.
With assistance systems such as Active Brake Assist 6, Active Sideguard Assist 2, Front Guard Assist, Active Drive Assist 3 or Traffic Sign Assist, Daimler Truck more than meets these requirements, the company said.
The systems form the new standard in all vehicle variants and represent further added value for the eActros 600 and all other battery-electric models from Mercedes-Benz Trucks, the Actros model series and here also the new generation of the Actros L, the Arocs, Atego and Econic model series, Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks as well as the city, intercity and touring coaches of the Mercedes-Benz and Setra brands.
“The EU General Safety Regulation is an important step towards accident-free driving – our Vision Zero,” said Rainer Müller-Finkeldei, head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks product development.
“We have been consistently pursuing this path for decades and are now setting new standards with our enhanced safety assistance systems. And this with a view to the best possible accident prevention to protect drivers and all road users.”
The focus is on all road users
In recent years, according to figures from the EU’s CARE database, passenger car occupants, cyclists and pedestrians together accounted for an average of around 70% of all traffic fatalities in accidents involving heavy goods vehicles weighing 3.5 tonnes or more – with passenger car occupants in particular accounting for almost 50%. Twelve percent of traffic fatalities in such accidents were passengers of the respective goods vehicles.
Overall, the number of road users killed in these accidents has decreased significantly in recent years. While there were still 4.586 traffic fatalities in this area in 2011, this figure had fallen by around 40% to 2.722 by 2021, according to the latest figures from the EU Commission. This corresponds to around 14% of all traffic fatalities in the EU – a percentage that has more or less remained at this level for some time.
The most common types of accidents across the EU include rear-end collisions, especially at the end of a traffic jam, inadvertent lane departure, side impacts at intersections, collisions when turning due to the blind spot and accidents due to overtaking errors.
Further tightening of legal requirements in the coming years
Driver assistance systems that have the potential to identify critical situations at an early stage and avoid accidents or at least mitigate their consequences are therefore becoming all the more important. According to GSR, as of July 2024 systems such as Sideguard Assist, a moving-off warning system, Intelligent Speed Assist, Tire Pressure Loss Warning System, Reversing Assist with camera or sensors and a warning system in the event of driver fatigue and diminished attention will be required by law, along with a device for the installation of an alcohol-test-based immobiliser.
For registrations of new trucks, buses and touring coaches, a highly developed warning system will be mandatory from 2026 if the driver’s concentration decreases. An event data memory will follow in 2029. In addition, an even larger direct field of vision from the driver’s workplace will then have to be ensured.
With the safety features that will be used in Daimler Truck trucks, buses and touring coaches this year, the company is once again reinforcing its position as one of the pioneers in the industry: The systems not only comply with the GSR standards applicable as of 2024, but also exceed their scope in parts.
Daimler Truck has demonstrated its pioneering role in the development of safety features in recent years with a whole range of systems. For example, a truck equipped with Active Brake Assist 1 (ABA), which was launched on the market in 2006, was able to initiate maximum full-stop braking for the first time within the system limits. The functions of the emergency braking assistant have been systematically expanded for the upcoming sixth generation. One milestone was ABA 5, available since 2020, that reacts to moving persons not just with partial but rather with maximum full-stop braking.
In 2016, the company was the first truck manufacturer to offer a turning assistant ex works. As of 2018, Active Drive Assist (ADA) has enabled partially automated driving (SAE level 2) for the first time in a series-production truck. Finally, in June 2021, Daimler Truck was the first manufacturer to introduce Active Sideguard Assist (ASGA) with brake application on the market.
270-degree sensor fusion technology for virtually all-around visibility
The equipment of vehicles with cameras and sensors is very important for the effectiveness of driver assistance systems. In order to make an even better contribution to preventing accidents, Daimler Truck has developed a new electronics platform that enables an even larger view to the front and side through the so-called sensor fusion for merging radar and camera data.
The electronics platform offers 20 times faster data processing, and the total of six installed sensors – four lateral short-range radars at the front and rear, both on the right and left, a long-range radar at the front in the centre and the multifunction camera in the windshield – can now cover an angle of 270 degrees around the vehicle. Thanks to the significantly enlarged viewing angle, the installed assistance systems can make even better use of their strengths. This applies to both the new and the enhanced systems.
Active Brake Assist 6 with multi-lane monitoring
Active Brake Assist 6 is a good example of the efficiency of the 270-degree fusion technology as well as the over fulfillment of the GSR. At speeds of up to 60km/h – which was already 50km/h with ABA 5 – the latest emergency braking assistant from Daimler Truck can now also perform automated maximum full-stop braking ahead of crossing, oncoming or in-lane road users.
The GSR calls for the extended response to pedestrians and cyclists for new trucks, buses and touring coaches only as of 1 July 2026. Ahead of stationary vehicles, the system can react, as was previously the case, at speeds up to over 80km/h with maximum full-stop braking. A further added value of ABA 6 is multi-lane monitoring at a distance of up to 250m for even better hazard detection. As a result, the system can react better to critical situations and moving or stationary objects – including, for example, in typical freeway cornering situations. At the same time, radar technology generally ensures high system availability even in poor visibility.
Active Sideguard Assist 2 with extended functionality on the driver’s side
The second-generation Active Sideguard Assist (ASGA 2) shows just how much the equipment of the vehicles with six sensors and the associated, enlarged viewing angle increases road safety. The ASGA 2 monitors traffic on both the driver’s and front passenger sides and with its two-stage warning system it can alert drivers to potential dangers so that timely intervention can mitigate a critical traffic situation.
The lateral monitoring zone on the front passenger side and driver’s side has a width of 4.25m (previously 3.75m on the front passenger side).
The warning zone, which is active up to a speed of 30km/h, is maximum 30m behind the vehicle and seven metres in front. Up to a turning speed of 20km/h, in the red warning zone the system can also initiate automated braking until the vehicle comes to a standstill if the driver has not reacted to an audible and visual warning for the passenger side beforehand.
With this function as well, the system goes beyond the requirements of GSR, which only stipulates that Sideguard Assist must issue a warning if necessary. In addition, ASGA 2 provides an intelligent lane change warning concept depending on its own position in the lane and supports drivers on both sides when changing lanes.
Active Drive Assist 3
Active Drive Assist (ADA), which has enabled partially automated driving (level 2) in a series-production truck since 2018, has also undergone further improvement. Where the second generation of the ADA, installed as of June 2021, was enhanced to include the emergency stop function, ADA 3 now also supports drivers even better in the longitudinal and lateral guidance of the truck.
The emergency steering function is particularly new here: Where ASGA 2 reports a risk of a collision during a lane change, ADA 3 can actively countersteer to prevent leaving the lane and steer the vehicle back into the centre of the lane or into its own lane.
Like the previous generation, ADA 3 can also automatically maintain a distance, accelerate and steer if the necessary system conditions such as a sufficient curve radius or clearly visible lane markings are met. If the driver comes too close to a vehicle in front, ADA 3 can brake the truck automatically to the set distance from the vehicle in front.
Traffic Sign Assist detects traffic signs in real time
With another assistance system, Daimler Truck also goes beyond GSR requirements: Traffic Sign Assist. While EU regulations require the permanent display of the valid speed limits for the vehicle with possible warning alerts in case of exceeding them, the system also identifies no passing signs and their lifting, as well as warning signs, and displays the last two signs on the Multimedia Cockpit or Classic Cockpit. Finally, features such as the reversing camera for avoiding collisions when manoeuvring or coupling, the tire pressure loss warning system for longer tire life and lower fuel consumption, the attention assistance system for assessing the driver’s level of fatigue and the option of retrofitting an alcohol-test-based immobilizer also contribute to greater safety.
With all the assistance systems, Daimler Truck pursues across its entire product portfolio the objective of supporting and relieving drivers as much as possible during their trips within the system limits.
However, the boundaries of physics cannot be moved with the systems – even as good as they are. The driver therefore remains fully responsible for driving the vehicle safely at all times, as stipulated by law.
