youtube.com/watch?v=9-x72GNNodg
These kind of safety features should be made standard on all trucks. I’d want all those on my truck if I was ever a driver? Have you all got those kind of safety features. I think stability control at the very least, anyhow.
I want a go in the truck with the outriggers 
I’m sure we could find a car driver who could ‘cut-in’ quicker and closer than they showed 
isnt that what top gear tried and it didn’t work?
What happens when someone cuts you up going for an exit? Emergency stop for no reason! What happens to the traffic behind?
What happens when you get to a corner and it sees a sign?
I can understand your concerns people but remember you can turn all of those safety features off. As has been said, it would only take that one ■■■■■■ who leaves it until the last moment before leaving the motorway, to cut you up and it would probably emergency brake you…but you could just turn it off 
Allof these systems aren’t made to take control away from a driver, they’re there as an aid…If it was me, I’d only have the Lane Assist on.
Cynic-al:
isnt that what top gear tried and it didn’t work?What happens when someone cuts you up going for an exit? Emergency stop for no reason! What happens to the traffic behind?
What happens when you get to a corner and it sees a sign?
I think I saw that one - was that where the car virtually stopped because it was on a tightish bend with a metal barrier on it 
I think technology has to go that bit further yet - or retrofit all vehicles/cycles (pedestrians ) etc with sensors so that the stopping technology can recognise that it is a vehicle etc is in front.
I’d only have the Lane Assist on
Until you come across a piece of road where the council decided not to replace the worn out lines 
A wide angled mirror, very advanced 
what will they think of next 
my dad had a E class which had ‘intelligent braking’. If it decided you were braking hard it would take over and stop the car with maximum efficiency by monitoring each wheel and braking it as hard as it can without skidding. Quite scary as the driver as you feel like you lose control, even worse for the person following you with not so good stopping power.
I don’t like this technology, drivers either become dependant and increase their driving speed / reduce gaps to suit or it goes wrong and costs you a fortune to maintain your vehicle.
Remember it doesn’t matter how cleaver the systems are, your limiting factor is still how much grip your tyres have to teh surface your on!
My answer to all this talk about lets have
more technic no-how in the vehicles,
Ask the experts at FERRARI who is
better a computor programmened system or
M.S; A PERSON IS a million times better
than any bloody machine, and it has been
proven no end of times,
Cynic-al:
…, even worse for the person following you with not so good stopping power.
That should not come into the equation - the driver behind should be able to stop safely no matter how hard the one in front brakes - I assume the brake lights are activated when this happens…
That should not come into the equation - the driver behind should be able to stop safely no matter how hard the one in front brakes - I assume the brake lights are activated when this happens…
your right in the paper world of the dsa
but there should also be no need to break this hard because i should pre plan taking into accound how close the driver behine me is, there should be no tail gating by the driver behind to put me in that position, there should be no road rage, undertaking, cutting up, last minute lane changes and there should be no accidents.
But there are!
Cynic-al:
your right in the paper world of the dsa
STUFF THE DSA - I NEVER, NEVER, NEVER refer to anything DSA when talking about SAFE driving methods.
I refer to the safe driving methods that are REALISTICALLY possible by the ‘average’ driver IF they CHOOSE to put their minds on the task.
The fact that they CHOOSE not to…
With that brake assist what would happen if you were driving along and suddenly a bird flys across your path very low as they do sometimes, sensor picks it up thinking its a car and slams on the brakes .
I’m not an artic driver but surely that brake assist could potentially cause a jack-knife or trailer swing in certain conditions - like i said i only drive rigids so could be talking crap 
One problem is a machine can’t think. There could be a situation where the machine brakes the truck, but the driver wants to accelerate to get out of danger, not brake. Also ; although i hope not professional truck drivers, but with too many safty features people tend to stop thinking about whats dangerous. In the belief that the computer will solve all the problems, and save them from any accidents. May as well have no driver and let a robot drive.
brit pete:
My answer to all this talk about lets have
more technic no-how in the vehicles,
Ask the experts at FERRARI who is
better a computor programmened system or
M.S; A PERSON IS a million times better
than any bloody machine, and it has been
proven no end of times,
They banned Launch control and I think traction control, because they were better than even the best drivers at what they did. Technical advances happen most of us now have ABS brakes and traction control. I’ve even got ABS on my motorbike now and don’t feel any loss of control when I’m burying the front fork into the fairing on my way into a corner.
I have a concern about to many auto systems as people may not feel they need to concertrate on the road, but drivers aids like ABS, EBS etc won’t stop a bad driver crashing a truck, but might help most drivers when they make a mistake or something unforseen happens ahead of them.
why rely on technology? if you dont realise that you are closing that quick on the vehicle in front then you shouldn’t be on the road, its called reading the road ahead. mirror ,signal, manoeuvre.
if you cant pass it then come on the brakes. same as any vehicle behind you would be expected to do.
grousebeater:
why rely on technology? if you dont realise that you are closing that quick on the vehicle in front then you shouldn’t be on the road, its called reading the road ahead. mirror ,signal, manoeuvre.if you cant pass it then come on the brakes. same as any vehicle behind you would be expected to do.
I wonder what would have happened if that technology had been in the truck that killed the family on the M6…
,
ROG all the best Technology in the world
does not make a driver acccident free also
you Can (and it is done) Turn it OFF;
If they want a Robot To drive then
carry on, I wish to be in charge not
a machine thank you, AND ROG
it has been said before people can
only buy the vehicle that they can afford
this means until the systems are required by Law
not every one will buy such technoogy,
as for the accident on the M6 WHO KNOWS
as he driver might have switched the
system off,
brit pete:
,
ROG all the best Technology in the world
does not make a driver acccident free also
you Can (and it is done) Turn it OFF;
If they want a Robot To drive then
carry on, I wish to be in charge not
a machine thank you, AND ROG
it has been said before people can
only buy the vehicle that they can afford
this means until the systems are required by Law
not every one will buy such technoogy,
as for the accident on the M6 WHO KNOWS
as he driver might have switched the
system off,
Very true Pete.
As with most things, it comes down to the decisions that the driver makes.
Adam_Mc:
I can understand your concerns people but remember you can turn all of those safety features off.
Knowing how safety PC Merc have become, you would probably have to turn it off everytime you started the truck up, thats if they give you the choice 
. I’ve got one of their auto gearbox trucks, and with cruise control on, as soon as it starts to pickup speed going down a gradient, the bloody thing slams itself down a gear and on comes the engine brake, the only way to avoid that happening is to cancel cruise con or floor the accelerator, and it can’t be turned off. Its a fantastic truck, but that feature really does ■■■■ me off as on the old one I had the choice of selecting whether it automatically braked on overspeeding or not.
The Actros is the ONLY truck. They are great, maybe a bit too much safety here though. It;s OK being on a test track with one car stationary, but when you have car after car cutting you up to cross 3 lanes of a motorway and exit what will the truck do then ? Stop ? It’s a bit Knight Rider isn’t it. Maybe these things will work great if every other vehicle on the road has them as standard too. I can see a lot of loads being picked up after they have fell over.