Scania unveils bright idea up front

Scania’s focus on safety has seen it unveil a one-off surface design feature for the front end of their vehicles. 

The concept made its debut at the recent Sandown Drive Days with a G 480 permanently painted in high-viz colours and stripes.

“We have dressed a static display prime mover in an XXXXL-sized graphic Safety Vest as a bold statement of Scania’s commitment to driver safety,” Scania Brand and Communications Manager Ron Szulc says.

“Just as the hi-viz safety vest worn by many drivers on a daily basis helps to signify their presence and provide a degree of safety, in what can be for many, potentially hazardous working environments, so the Scania prime mover, with its many safety features acts as a safety vest for the driver on the road.”

These safety features include the increasingly well-known acronyms of EBS (electronic brake system) which includes ABS (anti-lock brake system); ESP (electronic stability program); ACC (adaptive cruise control); and LDW (lane departure warning).

Then there’s the driver’s side airbag; seat belt pre-tensioner; collapsible steering column; anti-slip steps; super bright halogen headlamps, and so on.

On the famous Sandown race track in Melbourne’s south-east, trucking operators and other industry people as well as numerous truck-related public servants were able to sample some of these safety features for themselves while going for a spin in a Scania R 480 and R 620 in the company of driver trainers.

Of course, advanced safety systems are not unique to Scania – European manufacturers in general have had a reputation for being leaders in safety technology for years

So participants were also able to go for rides in a Volvo FH 16, Mercedes-Benz Actros and DAF XF 105. The acronyms might be slightly different but these trucks have similar safety features to Scania, and those who rode in them inevitably came away impressed.

The first two makes had Volvo and Mercedes cars driving ahead, so that instructors could show off “adaptive cruise control” (or what Mercedes calls “active brake assist”) where a radar senses you are too close to the vehicle in front, and the truck can automatically slow down and if need be, apply the service brakes.

What may have come as a surprise to some who rode in the Kenworth K200 is that it too comes with ACB (“active cruise with brakes”) as well as numerous other acronyms with similar functions to the Europeans.

As one interstate operator quipped, it would be great if customers paid sufficient rates to fully pay for all this high-tech safety gear.

You can read more about the VTA Sandown Drive Days in upcoming issues of ATN and OwnerDriver

Click here to find Scania trucks for sale.

 

 

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