This year, Mercedes-Benz Trucks and Daimler Buses are placing children at the center of their road safety activities. The two Daimler Truck segments support the nationwide “Deutschland blickt’s” initiative by Blicki e.V., which has already raised awareness among more than 90,000 children about risks in road traffic. The Mercedes-Benz Safety Truck and Mercedes-Benz Safety Coach are being deployed to help make road safety tangible through practical workshops and training sessions.
The “Deutschland blickt’s” initiative kicked off in early June in Leipzig with a launch event attended by Michael Kretschmer, Minister-President of Saxony, and Burkhard Jung, Mayor of Leipzig. Following the weather-related cancellation of an action day planned in Berlin at the end of June, another event took place in Augsburg in mid-July. Through Blicki e.V.’s extensive activities, around 11,000 preschool and elementary school children as well as senior citizens will be reached nationwide this year. The association’s stated goal is to significantly reduce accidents involving children.
At the end of 2025, VDA President and Blicki Ambassador Hildegard Müller, Achim Puchert, CEO Mercedes-Benz Trucks and member of the Board of Management of Daimler Truck, Till Oberwörder, CEO Daimler Buses, and Dirk Hendler, Managing Director of Blicki e.V., presented the initiative at the Federal Ministry of Transport in Berlin.
Achim Puchert: “With our participation in ‘Deutschland blickt’s’, we want to help strengthen road safety for children together with our partners. Education, awareness, and mutual consideration are key to achieving this. At the same time, we continuously work to make our trucks even safer.”
Mercedes-Benz Trucks will present two new safety systems for use at intersections at the IAA Transportation trade fair in Hanover this September, addressing another area of accidents that the company is focusing on.
Till Oberwörder: “Road safety is essential to reliable mobility. Practical workshops help raise children’s awareness of the challenges in road traffic. We are pleased to support this important initiative on site with our buses.”
Dirk Hendler, Managing Director of Blicki e.V.: “Traffic is about more than mobility. It also reflects how we interact as a society. This is exactly where ‘Deutschland blickt’s’ comes in. Road safety is not created by technology alone, but by the responsibility and attitude of every individual. Those who demonstrate consideration, caution, and foresight make road traffic, and therefore our society, a little safer.”
Safety Truck and Safety Coach for practical road safety training
With the Safety Truck and Safety Coach as dedicated presentation vehicles, Mercedes-Benz Trucks and Daimler Buses traditionally showcase the current state of safety technology. The vehicles are also prominently wrapped to visually emphasize the topic of safety. The truck manufacturer chose an electric vehicle for the new Safety Truck to draw attention to the changing conditions for road safety resulting from increasing electrification. Other road users must adapt to a new soundscape and quicker acceleration. Rescue services also need to prepare for high-voltage technology.
The changes in road safety brought about by e-mobility apply largely in the same way to electric buses. Acceleration in e-buses is electronically controlled, dynamic, yet always comfortable and safe, even for standing passengers.
Holistic safety solutions in the Safety Truck and Safety Coach
With the Mercedes-Benz Safety Truck and Safety Coach, Daimler Truck showcases active and passive safety solutions designed to provide the best possible protection for drivers as well as other road users. On the passive safety side, the Safety Coach features the Front Collision Guard (FCG), a special system designed to enhance protection in frontal collisions. It can help prevent passenger cars from underriding the coach and is designed to absorb impact energy through integrated crash elements. In addition, a robust driver workplace structure helps maximize survival space in the event of an accident. Active safety assistance systems, such as emergency braking assist, turning assist, front collision warning, traffic sign recognition and attention assist, can help drivers identify critical situations at an early stage and avoid accidents or mitigate their consequences. The MirrorCam can also help improve visibility and reduce risks, particularly in complex traffic situations. The goal is to combine advanced technology with driver support while maintaining the driver’s clear responsibility for the safe operation of the vehicle.
Mercedes-Benz Trucks introduces two new safety assistance systems
The systems that Mercedes-Benz Trucks will present at IAA Transportation are designed to intervene in critical situations to help avoid collisions with other road users or mitigate their consequences. Their development is based on findings from the company’s in-depth analysis of real-world accidents conducted by its own accident research team.
Both functions are designed to be made available as early as possible and, in some cases, anticipate future regulatory requirements. In this way, Mercedes-Benz Trucks continues the consistent advancement of its safety assistance systems, with the clear goal of bringing new safety technologies into series production quickly and further reducing accident rates on the roads.
