Mercedes-Benz Trucks will extend the Active Brake Assist 5 advanced safety package to cover its entire Australian and New Zealand rigid highway range. The full suite was not previously available with the 8×4 Arocs model, given application-related packaging restrictions. The Active Brake Assist 5 system uses a radar and camera to try and prevent avoidable collisions. It has the capability to bring the truck to a complete halt when it detects moving pedestrians.

The system can also stop completely for moving or stationary vehicles when the driver may be distracted, something that is proven to save lives and reduce road trauma. The Advanced Emergency Braking System, called Active Brake Assist, is designed to avoid or reduce the impact of collisions including heavy vehicles.

The rigid range is now also available with the optional Predictive Powertrain Control (PPC) feature.

PPC uses topographical information, including pre- mapped three-dimensional GPS data, to enable the truck to make the best and most economical choice of throttle application and gear selection.

This could mean holding onto a gear, rather than changing up, just before the crest of the hill, or briefly selecting neutral to save fuel in the appropriate conditions.

Another option available for the rigid range is the MirrorCam system. The new Mercedes-Benz rigid range also features Lane Keeping New safety for Mercedes-Benz rigids Assist, which alerts the driver if the truck drifts out the lane without the indicator on and Attention Assist, which alerts a driver who is beginning to drive in a fatigue-affected manner.

A popular part of the safety technology suite is Proximity Control Assist, an adaptive cruise-control function that can modulate the truck’s speed in traffic, even when the traffic grinds to a halt.