Continental is launching a turn assist system onto the market that can be quickly and easily retrofitted in commercial vehicles. As the sole provider of this safety technology to date, the technology company is relying on an exclusively radar-based system that can detect and classify cyclists and pedestrians.
The latest safety technology now available even for older commercial vehicles
“Increasing the safety of more vulnerable road users is an important social responsibility,” says Gilles Mabire, head of the Commercial Vehicles & Services business unit. And this is true now more than ever, since the number of cyclists in particular is currently on the rise. Due to the coronavirus, more and more people are forgoing local public transport and getting on their bikes instead (source: infas). A turn assist system like the one Continental is now offering for retrofitting significantly increases safety by warning the driver of the commercial vehicle as soon as a pedestrian, cyclist or scooter driver is in the blind spot beside the bus or truck. In Germany alone, 36 percent of all fatal cycling accidents could be prevented by means of right-turn assist systems (source: Unfallforschung der Versicherer, UDV). By 2024, systems like these will gradually become mandatory in all new trucks in the EU. Voluntary retrofitting is a state-subsidized way of filling the equipment gap in trucks that are already on the road.
There are currently more than three million vehicles registered in Germany (source: Statista). This technology can be easily fitted to the truck. The radar sensor system is installed on the rear-view mirror and monitors the area up to four meters to the side of the vehicle and up to 14 meters behind it.
High-tech solutions to protect more vulnerable road users
Continental has extensive know-how and many years of expertise in the field of turn assist systems for trucks and passenger cars. Work has already started on the third generation of the technology. In the future, a combination of radar and camera data working with artificial intelligence will even recognize the gestures of cyclists and pedestrians, helping to protect the most vulnerable road users even more proactively.
