Stuttgart – Being on the road in a heavy truck in city traffic, sometimes on narrow roads and with confusing intersections is a challenge for many professional drivers. This especially applies to turning manoeuvres. In such situations, Sideguard Assist from Mercedes-Benz Trucks can use a multi-stage process consisting of visual and audible signals to warn the driver of cyclists, e-scooters or pedestrians in the monitoring zone of the radar on the co-driver's side. Since 2016, Sideguard Assist (S1R) has been available ex works (fully integrated in the vehicle architecture) for many models of the Actros, Arocs or Econic model series, and since 2019 it can also be retrofitted to numerous models of these same model series (for vehicles from model year 2017).

"We are very pleased that more and more customers put their trust in Sideguard Assist from Mercedes-Benz Trucks and are giving their drivers this important safety assistance system," says Andreas von Wallfeld, Head of Marketing, Sales and Services at Mercedes-Benz Trucks. "In most European markets we have been seeing a positive trend for years. The greatest demand this year is in Germany and Switzerland, where around 85 percent of the Actros models for which the system is available have already been ordered with Sideguard Assist," Wallfeld continues.

For the Atego and those Actros, Antos or Arocs model series which cannot currently be equipped with Sideguard Assist, Mercedes-Benz Genuine Accessories has been offering Sideguard Assist, basic for retrofitting since the middle of the year.

Starting in June 2021, Mercedes-Benz Trucks will introduce Active Sideguard Assist (ASGA), another potentially life-saving safety assistance system: The brand is the first manufacturer to offer a so-called turning assistant which can no longer merely warn the driver of stationary or moving cyclists, e-scooters or pedestrians being detected on the co-driver's side, but which, up to a vehicle turning speed of 20 km/h, can also initiate automated braking of the vehicle down to a complete standstill if the driver fails to react to the warning tones.