The Mercedes-Benz Econic is often deployed in the heart of the city and in residential areas as a waste collection vehicle. It is in locations such as this that confusing road and traffic conditions, combined with pedestrians moving between parked cars and passing cyclists, are part of everyday life. Such potentially dangerous situations place high demands on the safety systems of the Mercedes-Benz Econic. Mercedes-Benz is therefore offering several assistance systems to improve both active and passive safety for the Econic.
Fourth generation of Active Brake Assist
With the fourth generation of Active Brake Assist in the Econic, Mercedes-Benz is now presenting an assistance system which is able to protect the most vulnerable road users in particular – pedestrians. The system is able to warn the driver of a collision and in addition automatically initiates partial braking at the same time. This enables the driver to avoid a collision by means of maximum full-stop braking or a steering manoeuvre. The driver can additionally warn pedestrians in danger by sounding the horn.
Active Brake Assist 4 is tuned precisely to the challenges of deploying vehicles in urban traffic conditions: the system is able to detect moving pedestrians in virtually any traffic situation, for example if they walk into the truck’s lane from the side, emerge from behind an obstacle or are moving along the vehicle’s lane.
Active Brake Assist 3 fitted as standard in the Econic already surpasses the requirements which will be introduced by the EU in a more stringent standard in November 2018. As such the new Active Brake Assist 4 with pedestrian detection in the Mercedes-Benz Econic (optional extra) is an active safety technology which is far ahead of the legal requirements.
Sideguard Assist: warning of collisions with cyclists or pedestrians
A further key assistance system is Sideguard Assist. Manoeuvres involving turning off are part and parcel of the Econic’s deployment as a waste collection vehicle in city traffic. Ultimately all roads within a defined area have to be driven down. The driver has to pay attention to traffic lights, signs, oncoming and crossing traffic and at the same time keep an eye out for pedestrians and cyclists at the side of the vehicle. On top of this there are the waste collection workers, who transport the waste bins to and from the rear area of the Econic.
Now, if there is a moving object in the right side monitoring zone [right-hand drive traffic], the driver is initially provided with a visible warning. An LED in the shape of a triangle lights up at the driver’s eye level in the A-pillar on the co-driver’s side. The light intuitively attracts the driver’s attention to the situation alongside the vehicle and towards the outside mirrors on the co-driver’s side. If there is a risk of collision, an additional visual and audible warning is triggered: the LED flashes brightly several times in red. After two seconds, it remains permanently illuminated in red. In the event of an imminent collision, a warning tone additionally sounds from a radio system speaker on the side in question.
