The new Mercedes-Benz Actros

SAFETY ALL AROUND

The Strong Protects the Weak

How the Actros pays attention to cyclists and pedestrians

Mercedes-BenzTrucks you can trust

Comfort and SafetyHow Active Drive Assist and

Active Brake Assist support the driver

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eliveries of raw materials to the assembly line for business and industry, food and beverages in supermarkets, clothing in depart-

ment stores and much more: Like no other means of transport, trucks ensure that everyday necessities should get to their destinations. Or to put it even more clearly: without trucks, our society today would not function.

The importance of what professional drivers achieve every day for this cannot be overestimated. Most of all, it is important that they have the best “tools” available for their job. In other words: a comfortable, very efficient and, above all, safe truck. This is a key success factor for an industry that has to deal with increasingly difficult conditions, such as heavy traffic, long traffic jams, high cost and deadline pressure or a serious shortage of drivers.

Anyone travelling with 40 tons or more in freight 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 numerous traffic situations.

The prime example is the Actros series: The 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-

Stefan BuchnerMember of the Divisional Board Daimler Trucks & Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks

Safer Than Evertion of Mercedes-Benz’s decades of safety-oriented tradition. With Active Drive Assist for semi-automated driving, Active Brake Assist – the fifth generation of emergency brake assist, which has once again been improved –, the Sideguard Assist with pedestrian and cyclist recognition, and the MirrorCam, which is the first MirrorCam to be installed in a standard truck instead of the main and wide-angle mirrors, the Actros has achieved a level of safety that is unique to date.

With the brand’s new flagship we underline our claim to actively contribute to accident-free road traffic in the best possible way, thus getting closer to the “Vision of Accident-Free Driving”.

What the mentioned assistance systems can do and how they can help to compensate for hardly avoidable human errors in the hustle of the driver’s everday life is presented in detail in this brochure.

With this in mind, I wish you an informative read and a good journey at all times.

D

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ABS

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Anti-lock Braking System

(ABS)Active Brake

Assist 1 (ABA 1)

Anti Slip Regulation

(ASR)

Lane Keeping Assist +

Adaptive Cruise Control

Telligent Roll Control +

Braking System

Active Brake Assist 2

Active Brake Assist 3

Active Brake Assist 4 +

Sideguard Assist

Active Brake Assist 5 +

Active Drive Assist (ADA)

Telligent Stability

Control (ESP)

In series production at Mercedes-Benz Trucks

Ahead of their Time

ccident on the A 8. During an evasive manoeuvre, a truck of Mercedes-Benz skid-ded and broke through the crash barrier. Such an accident calls the Mercedes-Benz

commercial vehicle accident researchers to mind. If the owner and the driver agree and if the vehicle has not been seized by the police or public prosecutor’s office, the vehicle involved in the accident is usually inspected after salvage – supplemented by appropriate research by the police, the rescue services or the expert.

The procedure has a long tradition: Since 1972, commercial vehicle accident research at Daimler has been investigating accidents involving Mercedes-Benz trucks throughout Germany in order to derive measures for active and passive safety. In principle, all information on the cause of the accident, the vehicles involved, and the damage is documented.

Accident researchers also look for anomalies, for example with regard to the frequency of accident types, the recognisability of certain process patterns or the injuries of those involved in the accident. Based on this analysis, the accident researchers then derive modification measures and draw up a requirement specification. A few years ago, the idea of the Sideguard Assist was born, which has been available ex works on the market of Mercedes-Benz Trucks since 2016.

This innovative system, which helps to prevent accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists, is just one of many examples of the pioneering role that Mercedes-Benz Trucks has played in the development of safety and assistance systems for decades. Numerous systems were installed in the various model series long before they were required by law. This applies to the Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) and the Anti Slip Regulation

(ASR) as well as to the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) and the Emergency Brake Assist, to name just a few examples.

“We consider our detailed investigations to be essential for evaluating the vehicle’s behavior in a real accident,” emphasizes Kay Morschheuser, Head of Commercial Vehicle Accident Analyses at Mercedes-Benz Trucks. Only in this way is it possible to continuously incorporate further improvements into the vehicle. Accident prevention is always at the heart of Mercedes-Benz Trucks development – if only because of the large mass of a truck. But the reduction of the consequences of accidents also plays at least as important a role. Crash tests, which Mercedes-Benz Trucks has also been systematically conducting for many years, are indispensable in this respect. This is another decisive step in the safety development of heavy commercial vehicles in particular.

ASR ESP LDWSAEBS1 AEBS2

ABSMandated by law

With the findings of our accident research and our regular crash tests, we can save lives. Kay Morschheuser, Head of Commercial Vehicle Accident Analyses at Mercedes-Benz Trucks

Mercedes-Benz Trucks has been a pioneer in the development of safety and assistance systems for decades.

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A

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he job of professional drivers is tough. They bear great responsibility not only for the load, but above all for safety on the road. The challenges are immense. These include factors

such as tightly scheduled route plans, deadline pressure, heavy traffic, stress, fatigue, poor parking, distractions such as messages on the smartphone, possibly unfavour-able weather conditions and much more. A moment of carelessness or a sudden nod can quickly have devastating consequences due to the size and mass of the truck – on the one hand for the truck drivers themselves, but above all also for car drivers and for unprotected road users such as pedestrians or cyclists. It is therefore clear that everything must be done to ensure even greater road safety, especially in the heavy goods vehicle segment.

A high proportion of traffic accidents involving this vehicle category have for years been caused by collisions in longitudinal traffic – accidents in which, for example, a truck collides with a preceding or stationary vehicle as a result of distraction, too little driving distance or an unadapted 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.

High Efficiency of Active Brake Assist

Mercedes-Benz Trucks has been offering an emergency brake assistant for over 20 years – long before the systems were declared mandatory equipment by the EU Commission for new heavy goods vehicles, introduced in November 2015. What began in 2006 with emergency braking on vehicles

Every Accident is One too ManyTo 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 of Active Brake Assist and the Active Drive Assist for semi-automated driving.

T driving slower ahead, has been consistently developed over the years and resulted in the fourth generation Active Brake Assist (ABA) in 2016. A system that can also detect pedestrians moving in many traffic situations – for instance, when they run across the lane of the truck, step out behind an obstacle or move lengthwise in the lane. In this case, the vehicle can initiate partial braking on its own. In the new Actros, the ABA 5 is now available, an even more advanced version that can also react with emergency braking in the event of danger to pedestrians. Another new feature is that the ABA 5 works with a com-bination of radar and camera system.

The regular evaluations of the system’s efficiency carried out by Mercedes-Benz Trucks speak for them-selves: for example, the years 2017 and 2018, internal investigations of 95,000 Mercedes-Benz trucks with ABA 4 and Sideguard Assist were carried out. A warning was given to the driver 15 million times before a critical situation occurred. An assistance system has triggered partial braking more than a million times and emergency

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port the driver, but that he has sovereignty and responsibility over his vehicle at all times. This is because the law stipulates that the driver is fully responsible for the driving task and is responsible for adapting his or her journey to the traffic situation. Based on his own assessment of the situation, the driver can therefore override the emergency brake assistant in the event of a warning by accelerator pedal, turn signal or kickdown and thus cancel the warning or the automatic braking intervention. In connection with serious accidents

braking in more than 10,000 cases. Trucks have reacted to pedestrian settings 155,000 times using newer technologies.

Assistance Systems Are Important Helpers in the Strenuous Everyday Life of the Driver

In principle, all Mercedes-Benz assistance systems are designed in such a way that they optimally sup-

Vollbremsung

50 % 100 %

Warnstufe Teilbremsung

ACTIVE BRAKE ASSIST 5 – Stufe 2: TeilbremsungReagiert der Fahrer nicht adäquat, leitet das System in einem zweiten Schritt eine Teilbremsung mit 3 m/s (etwa 50 Prozent der maximalen Bremsleistung) ein.

Partial braking 50 % of the maximum braking power

Vollbremsung

50 % 100 %

Warnung und Teilbremsung

ACTIVE BRAKE ASSIST 5 – verbesserte PersonenerkennungDank der Kombination aus Radar- und Kamerasystem unterstützt der Notbremsassistent den Fahrer, wenn eine Kollision mit einer querenden, entgegenkommenden oder in der eigenen Spur laufenden Person droht – bei Bedarf mit einer Vollbremsung.

Emergency braking with person recognition 100 % of the maximum braking power

Vollbremsung

50 % 100 %

Warnstufe Teilbremsung

ACTIVE BRAKE ASSIST 5 – Stufe 3: VollbremsungDroht trotz der Maßnahmen von Stufe 2 eine Kollision, führt das System eine autonome Vollbremsung aus, die bei Bedarf innerhalb der Systemgrenzen zum Stillstand des Lkw führt. Außerdem werden die Warnblinker aktiviert.

Emergency braking 100 % of the maximum braking power

at the end of a traffic jam, however, there are repeated accusations that many drivers have deliberately switched off the emergency brake assistant. Reliable statistical data are not available, but would undoubtedly be desirable for accident research purposes. What is striking, however, is that the emergency brake assistant is often equated with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC).

While an AEBS only brakes when a collision is other-wise unavoidable, the ACC brakes the vehicle as soon as

Vollbremsung

50 % 100 %

Warnstufe Teilbremsung

ACTIVE BRAKE ASSIST 5 – Stufe 1: WarnungDas System erkennt ein langsam vorausfahrendes oder stehendes Fahrzeug. Zunächst erfolgt eine optische und akustische Warnung des Fahrers, um auf die Gefahr eines Auffahrunfalls aufmerksam zu machen.

Warning level Optical and acoustic signal

The ABA5 can also assist the driver in the event of a colli­sion with a person crossing, oncoming or in one’s own lane – with emergency braking if necessary.

If a collision threatens never­theless, the system carries out an auto­nomous emergency braking, which leads to the truck stopping within the system limits if necessary.

If the driver does not react adequately, the system initiates partial braking at 3m/s (about 50 per­cent of the maximum braking power) in a second step.

The ABA 5 detects a slowly moving or stationary vehicle. First, the driver is warned visually and acoustically to draw attention to the danger of a rear­end collision.

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it falls below the set minimum distance to the vehicle in front. These braking interventions can be perceived as annoying if an overtaking vehicle makes its way close to its own truck and brakes the system too hard. If the driver then switches off both systems, the safety gain is lost. However, the ABA 4, the ABA 5 and the Mercedes-Benz Proximity Control Assist are designed and technically mature in such a way that switching them off only

The combination of radar and camera system enables the ABA 5 to monitor the space in front of the vehicle even better and to react even faster to people. Ingo Scherhaufer, Head of Active Safety at Mercedes­Benz Trucks

Semi-Automated on the RoadA spectacular innovation in the new Actros is the Active Drive Assist, which for the first time al­lows semi­automated driving in a production truck. The system can automatically brake, accelerate and steer. To this end, it networks the performance of individual systems in a unique way: As an extension of the Proximity Control Assist with stop­and­go function, the Active Drive Assist can keep the distance to the vehicle in front as set. The system also uses the advanced radar and camera technology of the ABA 5 and the Proximity Control Assist. In addi­tion, the Lane Keeping Assist and Servotwin – the electro­hydraulic steering system – are responsible for the active lateral guidance of the truck in the lane. The function warns the driver as soon as he unintentionally leaves the lane. If the driver does not react, the system guides the truck back into the lane with corrective steering intervention. The perfect synthe­sis of safety and comfort.

45 km/h 20 m

Der Abstand zum vorausfahrenden Fahrzeug kann in fünf Stufen eingestellt werden

Abstandshalte-Assistent Radar und Kamera

ACTIVE DRIVE ASSIST – Abstand haltenDas System bremst den Lkw nicht nur ab, wenn er einem vorausfahrenden Fahrzeug zu nahe kommt, sondern beschleunigt ihn auch wieder bis zur eingestellten Geschwindigkeit. Zum Einsatz kommt ein kombiniertes Radar- und Kamerasystem.

Optische und akustische Warnfunktion

Elektrisch unterstützte Lenkung

Multifunktionskamera

ACTIVE DRIVE ASSIST – Spur halten und SpurrückführungDas System umfasst eine elektrisch unterstützte Lenkung, die in Kombination mit der Multifunktionskamera den Fahrer auf gerader Straße und in leichten Kurven aktiv unterstützt und den Lkw bei Bedarf selbständig in die Spur zurücklenkt.

Keep track

Track return

2 sAbstandshalte-Assistent „Stop!“

Abstandshalte-Assistent „Go!“

Beträgt die Haltezeit weniger als zwei Sekunden, fährt der Lkw ohne Betätigung des Fahrpedals an.

Bei längerem Stillstand startet der Lkw durch kurzes Antippen des Fahrpedals oder Drücken der Resumetaste am Lenkrad.

ACTIVE DRIVE ASSIST – Stop-and-go-FunktionDas System beinhaltet alle Funktionen des bewährten Abstandshalte-Assistent mit Stop-and-go-Funktion und regelt im Stau selbsttätig das Anfahren und Bremsen des Lkw.

makes sense in rare exceptional cases. This can be the case, for example, with vehicles with special attachments.

“For all electronic assistants, it is and remains of decisive importance that the drivers are thoroughly trained with regard to the functionalities of the assistance systems installed,” recommends Prof. Dr. Dirk Engelhardt, Chairman of the Board of the German Association for Road Haulage, Logistics and Disposal (BGL) e. V., in which the topic of traffic safety has always been at the top of the agenda. In his opinion, it is at least as important that vehicle drivers know and understand their range of services and, above all, their limits. “Because physical laws cannot be invalidated by such systems,” says Engelhardt. In other words, they neither increase braking per-formance nor can they shorten braking distances on wet or slippery roads. They ensure, however, that drivers are warned in situations identified by the system as critical in order to initiate countermeasures themselves or – if these are not taken – that braking takes place in order to avoid an accident completely or at least to significantly reduce the consequenc-es of the accident for everyone involved.

Within the system limits, the ABA 5 can also react with emergency braking to persons suddenly freezing in fright.

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or many professional drivers, driving a heavy truck in city traffic on sometimes narrow roads and at confusing intersections is a ma-jor challenge. Turning manoeuvres are among

the most unpleasant tasks. On the one hand, the driver has to pay attention to traffic lights, signs, oncoming and cross traffic, while on the other hand keeping an eye on pedestrians and cyclists from the side. “In addition, the traffic situation can change in a matter of seconds – and cyclists and pedes-trians are not always aware that a truck driver may not even see them because they are in the blind spot of the vehicle,” says Walter Niewöhner, accident expert at Dekra Automobil GmbH in Stuttgart. The problem: despite extensive mirror systems, there are areas in a truck that cannot be seen either directly or indirectly via mirrors. “Even a short-term visibility

Looking at the Blind Spot

High-tech for even more road safety: With the Sideguard Assist and the brand-new MirrorCam, Mercedes-Benz trucks

can help prevent accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists.

Cyclists rarely stop at intersections in the safe area (green) behind the rear of the truck. The risk of an accident rises sharply next to the truck train. The new Actros can protect the cyclist even in the most dangerous areas (red) using MirrorCam and Sideguard Assist.

F in one of the mirrors is not necessarily sufficient for detec-tion, given the complexity of a truck turning manoeuvre,” explains Niewöhner.

This makes it all the more important to take effective countermeasures. For example in the form of a sideguard assistant with person recognition. The German Insurance Association, for example, assumes that around half of all accidents between trucks and pedestrians or cyclists can be avoided with such a system. Ideally, the number of related fatalities could be reduced by around a third and the number of seriously injured by more than 40 percent. Years ago, the German Road Safety Council called for the mandatory installation of such a system. “In the future, there should no longer be any trucks on the road that are not equipped with a turning assistant,” said Federal Transport Minister Andreas

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Scheuer in July 2018 at the presentation of the “Turning Assistant Campaign,” which aims to speed up the intro-duction of this system by providing financial sup-port. In April 2019, EU legislators also agreed

on new rules to improve road safety. These include mandatory sideguard assistants for new truck types from 2022 and for all new trucks from 2024.

More Safety for the Weakest Road Users

Mercedes-Benz Truck customers don’t have to wait that long. As early as 2014, the company presented the prototype of the Sideguard Assist, and since 2016 the system has been available on the Mercedes-Benz Truck market ex works. The system does not initiate automatic braking, but rather uses a multi-stage warning process: If a moving or static object detected by the system is in the monitoring zone on the passenger’s side, the driver is visually informed. If there is a risk of collision, an additional optical and acoustic warning is issued. Two short-range radar sensors on the frame on the passenger side in front of the rear axle of the truck form the heart of the system. The system is designed to cover the entire length of the truck plus two meters to the front and up to one meter to the rear on the passenger side. It works both in solo vehicles and in complete road trains with a length of up to 18.75 meters. And if the sensors detect a stationary obstacle such as a traffic light or lantern in the truck’s trailing curve during a turning operation, an optical and acoustic warning is also issued.

The Sideguard Assist from Mercedes-Benz does even more: As an assistance system, it can also warn the truck driver when changing lanes to the right. At higher speeds, the system acts as a lane change assistant. The driver is also

informed of an obstacle on the passenger’s side or warned of it when the indicator is set.

The Sideguard Assist has been redesigned especially for the new Actros – the system now also supports the driver when turning left under certain conditions and is now also fit for the digital future of the truck. While the driver previously received the optical warnings via an LED light on the A-pillar inside the cab, the Sideguard Assist now uses the display of the MirrorCam, the first MirrorCam to be installed in a production truck. If a collision hazard is detected, an additional optical and acoustic warning is issued as before. The display then flashes red several times, then permanently red after two seconds. In addition, a warning tone sounds simultaneously from the passenger’s side.

Incidentally, there is another important aspect to remem-ber in connection with cornering accidents: A characteristic feature of such accidents is that the person driving the vehicle usually remains physically unharmed, but has to cope with the various consequences of this traumatic event. “The feelings of guilt make the affected driver really ill, it is not unusual for this post-traumatic stress disorder to lead to retirement,” says Dr. Jörg Hedtmann, Head of the Prevention Division at the employer’s liability insurance association for transport and traffic management. “In view of the shared responsibility for the health of their drivers and against the background of the increasingly serious shortage of drivers, hauliers are therefore well advised to provide technical prevention measures such as a Sideguard Assistant as part of the risk assessment,” recommends Hedtmann. Such a system could thus protect life and health in two ways.

With the new Actros, the Sideguard Assist has made another big leap forward.Carsten Barth, Mechatronics Engineer in the development of Mercedes-Benz Trucks

Perfect All-Round Vision

In the new Actros, Mercedes-Benz Trucks has replaced the con-ventional main and wide-angle mirrors with the standard MirrorCam, which works with digital cameras and displays. The problem of possibly incorrectly adjusted mirrors is now a thing of the past, because the MirrorCam automatically sets itself up optimally before take-off. The cameras are mounted on the right and left side of the roof frame. The captured image is transferred to two displays attached to the A-pillars in the cabin. A side effect that increases safety is that the driver has a clear view diagonally forwards past the A-pillars, and his field of vision increases.

PanningThe camera image pans along when cornering so that the driver can always keep an eye on the end of the trailer.

Wide Angle When manoeuvring and reversing, a special wide-angle mode helps the driver.

Distance When entering and exiting on highways, the distance lines on the displays (see picture on the right) allow the driver to better estimate the distance to the rear traffic.

Brightness The system automatically adapts to the current lighting conditions even at dusk and in the dark.

MirrorCam for improved visibility and more safety when manoeuvring, turning and changing lanes.

Active Brake Assist 5 and Sideguard Assist protect the driver and other road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.

Semi-automated driving with Active Drive Assist. More comfort and safety thanks to the Proximity Control Assist with stop-and-go function and Lane Keeping Assist for active lateral guidance of the vehicle.

Enhanced safety with automatic high, low beam and cornering light, electronic parking brake and Traffic Sign Assist.

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Safety Highlights in the New Actros

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The highlights of the new Mercedes-Benz Actros in the film: