SAFETY ALL AROUND The new Mercedes-Benz Actros The Strong Protects the Weak How the Actros pays attention to cyclists and pedestrians Comfort and Safety How Active Drive Assist and Active Brake Assist support the driver Mercedes-Benz Trucks you can trust Safer Than Ever eliveries of raw materials to the tion of Mercedes-Benz’s decades of safety-oriented assembly line for business and tradition. With Active Drive Assist for semi-automated industry, food and beverages in driving, Active Brake Assist – the fifth generation of supermarkets, clothing in depart- emergency brake assist, which has once again been ment stores and much more: Like no other means of improved –, the Sideguard Assist with pedestrian and Dtransport, trucks ensure that everyday necessities cyclist recognition, and the MirrorCam, which is the should get to their destinations. Or to put it even first MirrorCam to be installed in a standard truck more clearly: without trucks, our society today would instead of the main and wide-angle mirrors, the Actros not function. has achieved a level of safety that is unique to date. The importance of what professional drivers With the brand’s new flagship we underline our achieve every day for this cannot be overestimated. claim to actively contribute to accident-free road Most of all, it is important that they have the best traffic in the best possible way, thus getting closer to “tools” available for their job. In other words: a the “Vision of Accident-Free Driving”. comfortable, very efficient and, above all, safe truck. What the mentioned assistance systems can This is a key success factor for an industry that has do and how they can help to compensate for hardly to deal with increasingly difficult conditions, such as avoidable human errors in the hustle of the driver’s heavy traffic, long traffic jams, high cost and deadline everday life is presented in detail in this brochure. pressure or a serious shortage of drivers. With this in mind, I wish you an informative read Anyone travelling with 40 tons or more in freight and a good journey at all times. traffic must be able to rely on his truck in every driving situation. This is precisely why traffic safety is a top priority for us at Mercedes-Benz. Of course, the final responsibility always lies with the driver. But assistance systems are an important support in Stefan Buchner numerous traffic situations. Member of the Divisional Board Daimler The prime example is the Actros series: The Trucks & Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks Actros has always played a pioneering role in ensuring that professional drivers travel the roads as safely, accident-free, stress-free and comfortably as possible by constantly adding new technological features. The latest generation of Actros, which is now being launched on the market, is a logical continua- 2 3 Ahead of their Time With the findings of Mercedes-Benz Trucks has been a pioneer in the development of safety and assistance systems for decades. our accident research and our regular crash tests, we can save lives. Kay Morschheuser, ccident on the A 8. During an evasive Accident researchers also look for anomalies, for example (ASR) as well as to the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) and the Head of Commercial Vehicle Accident manoeuvre, a truck of Mercedes-Benz skid- with regard to the frequency of accident types, the recognisability Emergency Brake Assist, to name just a few examples. Analyses at Mercedes-Benz Trucks ded and broke through the crash barrier. of certain process patterns or the injuries of those involved in “We consider our detailed investigations to be essential Such an accident calls the Mercedes-Benz the accident. Based on this analysis, the accident researchers for evaluating the vehicle’s behavior in a real accident,” commercial vehicle accident researchers to mind. If the owner then derive modification measures and draw up a requirement emphasizes Kay Morschheuser, Head of Commercial Vehicle Aand the driver agree and if the vehicle has not been seized by specification. A few years ago, the idea of the Sideguard Assist Accident Analyses at Mercedes-Benz Trucks. Only in this way the police or public prosecutor’s office, the vehicle involved in was born, which has been available ex works on the market of is it possible to continuously incorporate further improvements the accident is usually inspected after salvage – supplemented Mercedes-Benz Trucks since 2016. into the vehicle. Accident prevention is always at the heart of by appropriate research by the police, the rescue services or This innovative system, which helps to prevent accidents Mercedes-Benz Trucks development – if only because of the the expert. involving pedestrians and cyclists, is just one of many examples large mass of a truck. But the reduction of the consequences The procedure has a long tradition: Since 1972, commercial of the pioneering role that Mercedes-Benz Trucks has played in of accidents also plays at least as important a role. Crash tests, vehicle accident research at Daimler has been investigating the development of safety and assistance systems for decades. which Mercedes-Benz Trucks has also been systematically Active Brake accidents involving Mercedes-Benz trucks throughout Germany Numerous systems were installed in the various conducting for many years, are indispensable in this respect. Assist 5 + in order to derive measures for active and passive safety. In model series long before they were required This is another decisive step in the safety development of Active Drive Assist principle, all information on the cause of the accident, the by law. This applies to the Anti-lock Braking heavy commercial vehicles vehicles involved, and the damage is documented. System (ABS) and the Anti Slip Regulation Lane Keeping in particular. (ADA) Anti-lock Active Brake Assist + Braking System Assist 3 Adaptive Cruise Active Brake (ABS) Anti Slip Control Telligent Assist 1 Active Brake ABS Telligent Assist 4 + Regulation Stability Active Brake Roll Control + (ABA 1) (ASR) Assist 2 Sideguard Assist Braking System Control (ESP) In series production at Mercedes-Benz Trucks 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Mandated by law ABS ASR ESP LDWS AEBS1 AEBS2 4 5 he job of professional drivers is tough. They driving slower ahead, has been consistently developed bear great responsibility not only for the over the years and resulted in the fourth generation load, but above all for safety on the road. The Active Brake Assist (ABA) in 2016. A system that can also challenges are immense. These include factors detect pedestrians moving in many traffic situations – for such as tightly scheduled route plans, deadline pressure, instance, when they run across the lane of the truck, step Theavy traffic, stress, fatigue, poor parking, distractions out behind an obstacle or move lengthwise in the lane. such as messages on the smartphone, possibly unfavour- In this case, the vehicle can initiate partial braking on able weather conditions and much more. A moment of its own. In the new Actros, the ABA 5 is now available, carelessness or a sudden nod can quickly have devastating an even more advanced version that can also react with consequences due to the size and mass of the truck – on emergency braking in the event of danger to pedestrians. the one hand for the truck drivers themselves, but above all Another new feature is that the ABA 5 works with a com- also for car drivers and for unprotected road users such as bination of radar and camera system. pedestrians or cyclists. It is therefore clear that everything The regular evaluations of the system’s efficiency must be done to ensure even greater road safety, especially carried out by Mercedes-Benz Trucks speak for them- in the heavy goods vehicle segment. selves: for example, the years 2017 and 2018, internal A high proportion of traffic accidents involving this investigations of 95,000 Mercedes-Benz trucks with vehicle category have for years been caused by collisions in ABA 4 and Sideguard Assist were carried out. A warning longitudinal traffic – accidents in which, for example, a truck was given to the driver 15 million times before a critical collides with a preceding or stationary vehicle as a result situation occurred. An assistance system has triggered of distraction, too little driving distance or an unadapted partial braking more than a million times and emergency speed. In this context, recent studies of accidents on the motorways in Lower Saxony provide interesting information. According to this study, heavy goods vehicles equipped with Advanced Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS) were dispro- portionately less frequently involved in rear-end collisions with serious personal injury in 2017. In figures: Almost 70 percent of rear-end collisions were caused by heavy goods vehicles without AEBS. “This points to the high accident avoidance potential of such systems,” says Dr. Erwin Petersen, Vice President of the Lower Saxony State Traffic Guard. Every Accident is One too Many High Efficiency of Active Brake Assist To protect the lives and health of all road users: with the new Actros, Mercedes-Benz Trucks is once again underscoring its pioneering role in the safety of heavy trucks with its fifth generation Mercedes-Benz Trucks has been offering an emergency of Active Brake Assist and the Active Drive Assist for semi-automated driving.