Commercial Vehicle Safety: The Foresight Saga

Would European roads be safer if the latest electronic control systems played a bigger part in controlling vehicle steering and braking?

Electronic systems designed to keep vehicles stable, never straying over road markings and always able to brake at the safest distance, tend to be regarded as luxuries by operators that they can do without.

The European commission disagrees. It proposes to make such safety features like lane departure warning and advanced braking, mandatory on commercial vehicles. European Parliament has voted to accept most of the Commission's proposals and set deadlines for the implementation. 3.5 tonne trucks, coaches and buses will be included. Exceptions, yet to be defined will include vehicles where the risks are low, and systems could not be justified.

Daimler are aware of the cost/benefit calculations after running a trial of 1000 Mercedes Actros units as part of their effort to support the mandatory fitment. Half the vehicles were fitted with adaptive cruise control, electronic stability and lane departure warning, and the other half had nothing. In the 106,000,000 km driven, the number of serious accidents involving vehicles with fitted with the systems is said to be half that of those without. And the typical accident cost was said to be 90% lower when systems were fitted.