Beaming in on safety

German engineers have unveiled what they claim is the world's safest truck. Bristling with the very latest active safety systems, the so-called Mercedes-Benz safety truck is both a technology showcase and a series production vehicle. It is already available to safety-conscious German truckers.

Based on Mercedes' Actros heavy duty truck, the vehicle can be seen as a response to safety concerns raised by EU predictions that road freight will increase by 75 per cent before the end of the decade.

The truck has been specifically designed to avoid rear-end collisions, apparently the most common type of accident involving vehicles of this kind. Uta Leitner of Mercedes parent company DaimlerChrysler said the key feature of the vehicle in this regard is a brand new active brake-assist system.

Based on Mercedes' Telligent proximity control technology, a radar-based system that automatically maintains a pre-selected distance from the vehicle in front, the system will instigate emergency braking if a collision with a vehicle ahead is unavoidable.