The World's Safest Touring Coach From Mercedes-Benz

Posted by www.eMercedesBenz.com on July 7th, 2006 at 10:30 AM CST

You've seen it before on VH1's Behind the Music - a rock band, in  
their drunken-fueled rage, try to throw an unsuspecting groupie from  
the inner confines of their tour bus, only to find that when doing  
so, the afore-mentioned groupie accidentally hits the bus' emergency  
brake, sending the bus careening down a steep road into a tree.

Unfortunately, while the new Mercedes-Benz Safety Coach can't  
eliminate the above-described situation, it can protect its  
passengers in a number of other real-world driving conditions.  For  
example, if the driver of the bus is getting a little drowsy, Lane  
Assistant notifies him or her of the impending lane departure, thus  
avoiding a friendly highway game of bumper cars. Thanks to a new  
mirror system featuring a reversing camera and Litronic xenon  
headlamps, the process of backing up has become a bit less dangerous,  
especially for the homeless gentleman who took up residence behind  
the pretty yellow bus.  And finally, Electronic Stability Control, a  
continuous braking limiter and an electronically-controlled braking  
system all make driving the bus... you guessed it... safer.

For those interested, the Mercedes-Benz Safety Coach is available  
now, so get your checkbooks handy. Also, be sure to check out the  
DaimlerChrysler safety and technology campaign, hitting twelve  
European cities in the coming weeks, where you'll be able to witness  
firsthand the safety that only Mercedes' coaches can deliver.



OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE


The world's safest touring coach: the Mercedes-Benz "Safety Coach"

New safety systems for buses and coaches actively help to prevent  
accidents
An important step towards realising the vision of accident-free driving
Stuttgart/Hockenheim, Jul 07, 2006
DaimlerChrysler presented the Mercedes-Benz Safety Coach to a group  
of international bus and coach experts from 18 European countries  
gathered at the Hockenheimring training area in late June 2006. The  
vehicle, which those in the know are calling "the world's safest  
touring coach", is based on the new-generation Mercedes-Benz Travego  
and has already gone on sale. It incorporates all the previously used  
safety technology as well as the Lane Assistant and proximity control  
systems, both of which are available for buses and coaches for the  
very first time.

The Lane Assistant warns the driver in plenty of time if there is a  
danger of the vehicle departing from its lane. Proximity control,  
meanwhile, maintains a safe distance between the bus or coach and the  
vehicle in front. Considering the bumper-to-bumper traffic faced by  
bus and coach drivers on motorways, for example, it is easy to see  
how useful such a system can be in helping to prevent rear-end  
collisions. New features include mirror systems with a "reversing  
pilot", a reversing camera and Litronic xenon headlamps. When  
operated in unison with recently introduced safety features such as  
the Electronic Stability Program (ESP), Continuous Braking Limiter,  
electronically-controlled braking system (EBS) and such like, these  
systems prove effective at helping to prevent accidents involving  
buses and coaches. Buses and coaches may be the safest means of  
transport of all, but the large number of passengers on board, and  
the potentially high number of casualties, means that bus and coach  
accidents often hit the headlines. The new safety technology on board  
brings buses and coaches a further major step closer to realising the  
vision of accident-free driving.

The Mercedes-Benz Safety Coach is part of a current campaign led by  
Daimler-Chrysler, which targets politicians, the public, the  
transport industry and insurance companies, and is aimed at promoting  
more widespread use of safety systems and technology in commercial  
vehicles. This is why the Mercedes-Benz Safety Truck will be visiting  
twelve European countries in the coming weeks, to impressively  
highlight the efficiency of the latest safety systems through a  
series of driving demonstrations. This initiative sees  
DaimlerChrysler lending its support to the European Union's "Road  
Safety Charter" project which aims to halve the number of road deaths  
in Europe between 2000 and 2010.

For more Mercedes-Benz news and information, visit  
www.eMercedesBenz.com.