Hamburg has been a driving force for introducing intelligent turn systems for lorries for many years. Now the city is even establishing an initiative backed by several state agencies, municipal enterprises, private companies, and the ITS Project Management Office to further solidify Hamburg's place as a leader in this area.
Despite numerous preventive measures, turn-related accidents between lorries and other vehicles persist. Sensor-based technical turn assistance can save lives by pointing out traffic activities in blind spots. A recent survey commissioned by insurance companies found that around 60% of lethal accidents after turns can be prevented through the use of such state-of-the-art assistance systems.
Hamburg played a pivotal role in the nation- and EU-wide fights to encourage the binding use of turn assist systems for 3.5t vehicles. This includes calls to retrofit older vehicles with sensor systems and to allot relative financial funding for related programs. Hamburg has also decided to spearhead an initiative itself: In cooperation with Brigade Elektronik GmbH, Luis Technologie GmbH and Wüllhorst Fahrzeugbau, three turn assistance systems were introduced to the market as a part of a pilot project. The project includes a total of 18 vehicles provided by public and private stakeholders. The different systems have been installed in 3.5t vehicle models from 2010 and earlier.
The project is financed by the LBV state agency, and is scheduled to last six months. Interim results are being gathered on a bimonthly basis, with the goal of retrofitting both municipal and privately owned vehicles.
