Active safety systems are particularly important in trucks and buses. With vehicles of this size and weight, it is especially important to actively avoid accidents as the risk of an accident with serious consequences is high. In order to achieve this, we are developing new safety systems in regular development cycles with which we can protect and assist drivers in their day-to-day work. In addition to the more well-known assistance systems, this also includes technical innovations. You can find out more about the active safety systems here.
Our assistance systems also assist drivers while they work, thus helping to prevent accidents. With these systems, our goal is to relieve burdens on the driver, raise his or her alertness, prevent fatigue, and promote an adapted driving style. This can be accomplished through prediction, automation, traffic sign recognition, enhanced all-round visibility, and smart lighting control.

Passive safety systems provide protection for vehicle occupants and other parties involved in an accident if an impact can no longer be prevented beforehand. In addition to active restraint systems such as the optional driver’s airbag in trucks and seat belts, a coordinated crash concept based on highly rigid driver’s cabs, in conjunction with energy-absorbing structures in the front section, plays a fundamental role for Daimler Truck.

The focus is also on minimizing an indirect risk of injury. This includes, for example, the design and configuration of components within the cab interior, fire protection and, necessary in case of a crash, the deactivation of high-voltage on-board electrical systems in vehicles with alternative drives. Implementation in our vehicles is based on our findings from accident research and product monitoring.

Another important part of our work is the targeted provision of information to ambulance and recovery services, for example by means of rescue guidelines, cards, and towing brochures. Detailed knowledge of our vehicles and their safety systems helps emergency services to get to accident victims more quickly and can thus help to save lives. Examples of supporting technical functions in the vehicle include the automatic activation of hazard warning lights and the automatic unlocking of the central locking system after an accident is detected. Various measures contribute to increasing the safety of rescue services, such as a high-voltage rescue disconnection point, automatic impact detection, and high-voltage deactivation.

Daimler Truck is one of the leading truck manufacturers in the development of autonomous trucks ("SAE Level 4"). Autonomous driving goes hand in hand with high safety requirements and has the potential to make the traffic of the future safer. Automation software and redundant driving and safety systems are important drivers for enabling autonomous driving in the future and reducing the number of accidents. In addition, unlike humans, autonomous systems do not become tired or inattentive and therefore reduce the risk of an accident. At the same time, autonomous trucks can fundamentally improve our customers' business and help society to cope with the growing volume of freight, especially in times of driver shortages.

We also believe that road safety can be further improved if technological advances in the field of autonomous driving can be incorporated into the driver assistance systems of manned trucks. Studies are also underway in this area.