The MAN turn-off assistant
Motor club praises Proximity Alert System for trucks as an important innovation for greater road safety.
One traffic situation which causes high stress for the driver is a nearside turn. Pedestrians and cyclists can move into the nearside area of the truck when they stop at a road junction directly next to the truck. In that position it is difficult for the driver to see them – and today he has keep an eye on a total of six mirrors and look out of the windows too. Sometimes the truck's swerving to the offside before actually turning off is misinterpreted – even though the driver has used the direction indicator properly. In this way difficult situations arise again and again, and occasionally serious accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists occur too.
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The MAN Turn-off Assistant minimises the accident risk
In order to achieve a sustained reduction in the risks of accident during turning off at road junctions, MAN Nutzfahrzeuge has developed its so-called Turn-off Assistant or Proximity Alert System. This system warns the driver when he may possibly overlook a weak road user, in particular a cyclist, on his nearside.
With the help of sensors the area around the cab is monitored when the truck stops and the distance up to any objects in this area is determined. When objects or persons approach the vehicle from behind on the nearside this information is shown via symbols in the two outside mirrors. An additional acoustic warning is given as the vehicle turns when the steering wheel has reached a certain angle and objects are still in the close range of the two front sensors.
From research to series-production
The Turn-off Assistant is the result of several years' development work. The tests carried out in real road traffic during the advance development stage yielded extremely positive results, the test drivers finding the system to be great help in potentially critical turn-off situations. MAN Nutzfahrzeuge then presented the Turn-off Assistant at the IAA Commercial Vehicles 2006 in Hanover to gauge the market acceptance for such a system. The response from the specialist public was extremely positive, and so in 2007 further development of the system up to series-production maturity began. The MAN Turn-off Assistant will be introduced as a series feature in MAN trucks in the course of next year.
The Bavarian section of the German motor club ADAC has singled out MAN Nutzfahrzeuge for its Mobility Prize 2007. This is a tribute to MAN Nutzfahrzeuge's commitment to greater safety in road traffic, as evidenced by the development of the Proximity Alert System. With its annual Mobility Prize the ADAC rewards projects, achievements and ideas in the field of transport in Bavaria.
