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When it comes to road deaths, South Africa is not alone in its mourning. We may have one of the worst global per-capita ratings in this regard but the reality is that even the super-well-behaved citizens of the European Union are victims of staggeringly high numbers of fatal collisions. Leading the fight to reduce road casualties is DaimlerChrysler, specifically through developments in its commercial vehicle safety technologies. FleetWatch visited Italy to learn how the 'World's Safest Truck' is spearheading the quest for safer road transport, writes Paul Collings.
 

The driver of the Actros pretended to be asleep and allowed the truck to move up behind the C-class at a speed of 80kph and execute an automatic braking maneuver. Fortunately for the C-class and its driver, the ABA kicked in and stopped the Actros in its tracks a mere 5 metres behind the sedan.

In 2004, almost 100,000 people were killed and over two million injured in road accidents in Europe. Population density aside, these are mind-blowing figures, even for us 'desensitized' South Africans. In fact, road accidents are the single biggest killer of young men in Europe and the cost to the EU economy runs into several billion Euros annually. As a result, the European Conference of Ministers of Transport convened in 2002 and plotted a multi-pronged strategy to reduce road deaths by 50% by 2010. 

As is the case in South Africa, European road traffic volumes have increased dramatically over the last decade, with freight traffic expected to increase by 75% over the next 25 years. Despite this, the European Road Safety Action Programme reported 8000 fewer road deaths in 2005 than reported in 2001. Obviously, the plan is working. The public is more aware of road safety issues, the roads are better managed, law enforcement is tighter and, vehicles are getting increasingly 'safety smart'. 
 

Truck’s Eye View The three-day Safety Expo in Italy also showcased the economic advantages of BluTec and SCR technology, now leading the Euro5 battle for cleaner emissions and improved fuel consumption. Other exhibitors included Bridgestone and Alcoa.

Safety crusader
DaimlerChrysler has a noble history of pioneering safety technologies and the organisation invests around €1 billion per annum on commercial vehicle safety technologies. Dubbed the 'founding father' of modern truck safety technologies is Professor Hartmut Marwitz who has served as vice-president of engineering, Mercedes-Benz Trucks, DaimlerChrysler AG since 1995. He holds a mechanical engineering degree and a doctoral degree in experimental mechanics from the Technical University of Munich. 

A man deeply passionate about improving safety in all road vehicles, Professor Marwitz passes on his wisdom and expertise to students at the Institute of Machine Design and Automotive Engineering at the Technical University of Karlsruhe in Germany. 

"At the core of the Mercedes-Benz approach to safety is a philosophy governed by four elements that when seen together, form a holistic and comprehensive vehicle safety system," says Prof Marwitz. "The first element is 'active safety', which includes features on the vehicle that help prevent accidents, like enhanced braking systems, an extremely stable chassis, excellent visibility and the range of 'Telligent' safety products."

The other three elements in this safety philosophy are 'passive safety' which is concerned with mitigating the effects of accidents through, for example, stronger cab construction and ensuring the driver doesn't leave his seat during impact by fitting the best seats and belts, explains Prof Marwitz. "The third and fourth elements cover rescue procedures and driver training."

Discussing truck safety with Prof Marwitz reveals that 'constant improvement' needs to become an all-encompassing mindset that goes well beyond merely preventing collisions. "The DaimlerChrysler vision for 'accident-free driving' is part of a larger, integrated research process that includes innovation in drive systems and fuel concepts, like BluTec and hybrid trucks that minimize the environmental impact of commercial transport. Designing 'concept' trucks that will become the trucks of the future is the third cornerstone of this innovation process."
 

	Antonio Sacristan, director general, Mercedes Benz Commercial Vehicles, lets the Italian public know just how far his company is going to make the country’s roads safer. The main road through Coccaglio (below), illustrates the need for harmonious road sharing and safer vehicles.

Ideas manifest
Situated in Northern Italy, about an hour out of Verona, if you drive at a leisurely pace, is a small town called Cocogglio watched over by a green mountain and a 14th Century monastery. A short distance out of town is a privately-owned race track with a skid pan and conference venue. This is where FleetWatch joined an Italian media contingent to witness the death-defying abilities of the Mercedes-Benz Safety Truck, Coach and Van. 
According to Prof Marwitz, European adoption of truck safety technology is at an embarrassingly low 4-5%, whereas in South Africa, "there is 100% market penetration. In Europe, the Actros does not come standard with Telligent safety features like Proximity Control and Lane Assist and transporters are reluctant to pay the extra cost for these items. It is simply a matter of educating them as to how these new technologies can save them money."

The latest safety-enhancing technology from the truck division of Mercedes-Benz is Active Brake Assist (ABA), explains Prof Marwitz, "which enables a vehicle to automatically initiate emergency braking action when danger threatens without any input from the driver. ABA is the most sophisticated safety-enhancing technology available to truckers anywhere in the world right now and it is exclusive to Mercedes-Benz."

According to Prof Marwitz, "ABA is equipped with radar sensors which calculate the distances to obstacles in critical situations and, if necessary, automatically trigger emergency braking with the maximum braking force. In Europe, rear end collisions account for the largest proportion of road accidents, around 33%, and ABA will go a long way to reducing this number." 

This is a similar situation to that in SA where rear-end collisions claim thousands of lives every year. Couple this with our high incidence of driver fatigue and one can bet bottom dollar that Proximity Control with ABA will not only save lives but millions of rands in accident costs. 
 

Beyond ABS -  Stability Control on the Actros and Acceleration Skid Control on the Sprinter are tested on the skidpan.

Testing destiny
On the day, the three Safety Vehicles, an Actros, a Sprinter and a Travego coach, were each subjected to a set of emergency braking, swerving and skid pan tests. The Actros hummed around the track behind a C-class Merc, which stopped dead a few hundred metres ahead of it. The driver of the Actros pretended to be asleep and allowed the truck to move up behind the C-class at a speed of 80kph and execute an automatic braking maneuver. Fortunately for the C-class and its driver, the ABA kicked in and stopped the Actros in its tracks a mere 5 metres behind the sedan.

Both the Actros and the Travego were put through emergency swerve tests to demonstrate the evolution of brake systems as 'stoppers and stabilisers' in larger commercial vehicles. In the Actros, the ESP (Electronic Stabilisation Programme found in Mercedes-Benz vans and cars) is known as Stability Control, where the risk of skidding while negotiating tight curves or executing avoidance maneuvers is reduced. "In critical driving situations, when the vehicle tends to oversteer or understeer, the braking force at each individual wheel is precisely controlled and engine torque is decreased," explains Prof Marwitz. "Jacknifing is prevented by a simultaneous, measured braking of the semi-trailer, even if the trailer is fitted with a conventional pneumatic braking system."

The Stability Control also has the ability to prevent trailers from tipping over while cornering, especially likely when carrying a heavy load, says Prof Marwitz: "The speed of the combination is reduced for as long as is necessary for it to become stable again."
 

Like a kid learning how to ride a bike, these ‘safety wheels’ allow test trucks and busses to execute extreme cornering and swerving maneuvers, without risk of rolling over.
Italy’s highways carry extreme volumes of truck traffic and rear-end collisions cause major log jams, costing the economy millions of € .

On a roll
Another new development in the Actros is Roll Control, which limits the chances of the truck rolling over, whatever the driving conditions. Adds Prof Marwitz, "conventional shock absorbers with their fixed, preset characteristics for the compression and rebound stages are unable to meet the broad range of demands encountered in day-to-day operation. In vehicles with full air suspension, the roll control automatically adjusts the firmness of the damping depending on the current driving situation, the load and the road conditions.

"Sensors record the vertical movements at the front and rear axles, the brake pressure, the load condition, the accelerator pedal movements and the speed. These values are recorded and evaluated by the central control electronics. Control signals are sent to the shock absorbers, which are equipped with a solenoid valve.

"The shock absorber characteristics can thus be changed in milliseconds and the vehicle reacts immediately. This improves road safety, driving comfort and the safety of the cargo while at the same time reducing road surface damage and wear and tear on other vehicle components."

What's next?
Such was the overall confidence in the new technologies that a Travego Safety Coach was loaded with journalists and sped around the circuit, the driver swerving violently between traffic cones allowing the vehicle to manage the hell-bent kinetic energy, demonstrating its ability to keep itself upright and come to a safe halt without so much as a hint of smoke. Impressive, to say the least!

"Research and development of other safety technologies is on-going," says Prof Marwitz, "and a host of exciting products will be unveiled in the near future. These include Cornering Assistant, Night Vision, a Pedestrian Monitoring System and a Truck Parking System. We will make the world's safest truck even safer because we're serious about limiting road fatalities."

Design for life
Progressive stuff indeed and underscoring DaimlerChrysler's advances in improving truck safety is a message to all other vehicle manufacturers and global transport policy formulators: "We're in this together. Road safety is everyone's responsibility. We have a blueprint to reduce road fatalities, now let's all put our money where our mouths are and make road safety a Design for Life."