New safety technologies include Blind spot detection, Lane departure warning and radar sensors for Emergency braking. The European Union has mandated the application of forward-looking emergency braking system and lane departure warning system in heavy commercial vehicles from 2013. The technologies will be installed as standard in Volvo trucks this year.
The Blind Spot Detection (BSD) system, developed by Continental to monitor the nearside of the vehicle, exchanges data with the vehicle via the controller area network (CAN) bus. The housing for the radar sensor and control unit is fitted to the nearside of the vehicle, level with the driver’s cab. The radar works at 24 Gigahertz range and provides significant coverage of the road area to the side and the rear area with its 150 degree lobe.
Lane Departure Warning (LDW) system uses a camera mounted near the instrument panel to analyse road markings. In case of a change in the lane without turn indicators, the system alerts the driver. The camera can also be used to assist other safety systems such as headlamp assist system which monitors oncoming traffic and vehicles in front and set the main beam at the optimum level to avoid inconvenience to other road users.