11/2021: Turn assistance systems in 220 large urban vehicles

The City of Aachen's fleet of large vehicles has been rolling through the streets with turning assistance systems since November 2021. 130 vehicles from the emergency services, professional and volunteer fire departments and disaster control and 90 vehicles from the municipal services have been equipped with sensor technology.

The installation of the technology was presented at a press event on November 4, 2021.

The built-in assistance system helps drivers of large vehicles to become aware of cyclists next to them at an early stage and not to endanger them when turning right.

The system is based on radar as a supportive assistance system. It works in all weathers - in rain as well as in snow, fog or darkness. In the event of potential danger, e.g. if a bicycle rolls past in the blind spot of the refuse collection vehicle, it sends an acoustic signal to the driver, who can then react immediately and effectively.

In the search for a suitable system, the stakeholders from the city of Aachen exchanged information with other fire departments and fleet operators via specialist committees and collected information and best practice examples.

An initial technical "field test" was launched in 2019: some fire engines from the professional and volunteer fire departments were fitted with so-called "wide-angle camera systems". However, this system was discarded after a test phase lasting several months.

A further series of tests was carried out from January 2020 in two fire department driving school vehicles using two systems that were rated as (very) good by the ADAC. In our own test, a comparable framework (same vehicle types) was created, taking into account the expertise of the Aachen driving instructors, which, supplemented by high mileage and under the supervision of trained instructors, achieved a valid result.

An installation partner for the best-rated system was found for the work in the fire department workshop on Hüls in a joint award procedure between the fire department and the municipal company.

The costs for each system amount to around 2,600 euros. The federal government has agreed to the City of Aachen's application and provided pro rata funding for this.

Legislation has made retrofitting mandatory for all new vehicles > 3.5t from July 2022.