Daimler technology – safety first

Daimler Truck AG is one of the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturers and includes trusted brands from Europe, Asia and North America in Mercedes-Benz, FUSO and Freightliner respectively – all are represented in New Zealand by Keith Andrews, the country’s largest commercial vehicle dealer.  

Collectively, the Daimler family of trucks has a reliable solution for every application and for a broad range of budgets. That’s where the differences within the family represent one of its strengths.  

On the other hand, shared R&D across the three brands means that owners and drivers are effectively getting ‘three for the price of one’ when it comes to the technology within their trucks – across performance, fuel efficiency and safety. 

This commonality also provides greater peace of mind and ease of integration when it comes to product familiarity, driver operation and parts and service supply. 

This series investigates and celebrates the commonalities within the Daimler Truck family. 

Advanced safety features 

Daimler Truck AG takes driver and road-user safety extremely seriously, which is why it has developed a range of advanced safety systems and rolled them out across Freightliner, Mercedes-Benz and FUSO ranges. 

Reducing accidents not only prevents injuries and trauma, it can benefit business owners by enhancing staff welfare, improving staff recruitment and retention, and avoiding the cost and downtime of repairs. 

Active Brake Assist 5  

ABA 5 employs an enhanced radar system and camera to detect possible collisions and alert the driver at the earliest opportunity. If necessary, the truck’s brakes will be activated automatically to help avoid a collision. 

ABA5 is available on Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner and the new 2022 FUSO Shogun truck range.  

Lane Keeping Assist (Lane Departure Warning on FUSO trucks) 

Lane Keeping Assist uses a built-in camera to monitor the position of the vehicle in its lane and uses acoustic and visual warnings to alert the driver as soon as the vehicle leaves its lane unintentionally. The system becomes active automatically at a speed of 60 km/h or more; and can distinguish between continuous and broken lane markings. 

Electronic Stability Control  

Electronic Stability Control reduces the risk of skidding, jack-knifing, or overturning of the vehicle in critical situations, for example in the event of emergency braking, sudden evasive manoeuvres or excessive cornering speed. The system identifies situations such as understeering, oversteering, or vehicle tipping; and assists in controlling the vehicle with brakes and engine power adjustment. 

Attention Assist (Driver Fatigue Monitoring on FUSO trucks) 

Attention Assist analyses behavioural changes and detects declining attention levels. The system monitors several variables, such as lane keeping, steering behaviour, driver actions, length of journey and driving time. If Attention Assist detects declining attention levels or fatigue from the driver’s actions, the system will issue a sound alert in the cab and display a message on the instrument cluster, recommending that the driver take a break. 

Active Sideguard Assist (Sideguard Assist on Freightliner Cascadia) 

Available on FUSO Fighter and Shogun models and Freightliner Cascadia, Active Sideguard Assist can aid the driver when turning or changing lanes by detecting moving and stationary objects in the warning zone on the right or in the tracking pattern in certain situations and providing visual and audible warnings for the driver. 

Active Drive Assist 

Currently available on Freightliner and Mercedes-Benz, Active Drive Assist helps to keep the truck in the middle of the lane and prevents the vehicle from moving out of its lane.  

The more advanced Active Drive Assist 2, which has just been rolled out in the Mercedes-Benz Actros, helps to actively steer the truck and keep it in the centre of its lane, although the driver is still required to hold the steering wheel.  

A common approach to improving safety 

The benefits of shared R&D across the group means that the technology keeps improving through sustained investment – and there are more trucks on the road across the FUSO, Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner ranges working to better protect drivers and other road users from avoidable accidents.