Why 700 Series is the ‘safest Hino ever’

The recently-released 700 Series has been dubbed “the safest Hino ever” with a raft of new active and passive safety features.

For the first time, Driver Monitor (DM) has been added to the Hino SmartSafe package, which is a comprehensive safety package featuring driver assist technologies that take an active focus on protecting the lives of drivers, passengers and other road users.

The new Driver Monitor system constantly monitors the driver’s attention towards the road using key metrics such as driving posture, face orientation, and eyelid status via a camera integrated into the A-pillar.

The system provides a visual and audible alert if it detects drowsiness or a lack of attention from the driver.

“Driver Monitor seeks to reduce the number of accidents caused by driver inattention, and driver fatigue,” said Daniel Petrovski, Manager of Product Strategy for Hino Australia.

“National Transport Insurance (NTI) recently released the 2021 National Truck Accident Research Centre (NTARC) report which found that two of every three truck driver fatalities were as a result of either fatigue or distraction.

“The report also found the number of significant accidents caused by distraction more than doubled in the past two years, which makes Driver Monitor an important addition to the 700 Series and its Hino SmartSafe package,” said Petrovski.

Hino SmartSafe also includes a pre-collision system with autonomous emergency braking, pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, stability control, reverse camera and a suite of other standard safety features.

“At Hino, safety is a central design principle, and all 4x2, 6x2, and 6x4 variants of the all-new 700 Series range are equipped with Hino SmartSafe,” said Petrovski.

“The 700 Series answers a lot of the major safety issues that confront the transport industry and other road users, with the implementation of advanced driver assist technologies, Hino SmartSafe, and, more specifically the introduction of Driver Monitor,” he added.

First introduced on the Hino 500 Series Standard Cab in 2019 followed by the 300 Series in 2020, PCS is an active safety system that can detect potential collisions with another vehicle via image and radar sensors.

“PCS continuously scans the road in front of the truck and can assist the driver to actively minimise the type of accidents that regularly occur through driver distraction or poor judgement,” said Petrovski.

“A common accident scenario that PCS aims to reduce is a rear-end collision with another vehicle – for instance, on a single lane road where a driver may not notice that the vehicle ahead is slowing or already at a standstill.”

PCS uses radar and image sensors to detect vehicles and objects ahead, and will warn the driver both audibly and visually on the LCD Multi Information Display if it predicts a collision is likely to occur.

If the driver fails to react to the imminent danger, PCS can, as a last resort, engage autonomous emergency braking to apply the brakes to minimise the vehicle’s speed and subsequent damage in the event of a collision, or in some circumstances, assist the driver to avoid the collision altogether.

“The addition of PCS aims to significantly reduce the 30% of rear-end collisions in rigid truck accidents, as cited in 2020 National Transport Insurance Major Accident Investigation report,” continued Mr Petrovski.

Similarly, Pedestrian Detection is designed to detect a pedestrian in front of the vehicle.

“If the system senses the possibility of a collision, it will warn the driver to apply the brakes using both visual and audible alerts, and if there is an imminent collision, it can autonomously apply the brakes,” said Mr Petrovski.

All 700 Series models now feature an Electronic Brake System (EBS), which combined with brake hardware changes, will improve stopping performance and provide a more consistent brake feel, while reducing maintenance requirements and costs.

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Traditional pneumatic brake systems rely only on a pneumatic signal to be transmitted from the brake pedal to the service brake relay valves, whereas EBS uses an electronic signal from the brake pedal directly to the brake modulator valves.

The electronic signal is faster than the pneumatic signal, resulting in quicker activation of the modulator valves and thus, improving braking response times while reducing braking distances.

The EBS control unit is continuously estimating the total weight of the vehicle and when the driver places their foot on the brake pedal, the EBS optimises the braking force required to achieve the target deceleration.

“EBS provides the driver with more consistent stopping performance and the brake pedal force adjustments usually made by the driver are instead performed by the electronics within the EBS system, thus ensuring more consistent braking and reducing driver fatigue,” said Mr Petrovski.

The standard Hino safety package across the all-new 700 Series range includes EBS with Anti Lock Braking System (ABS) and Anti-Slip Regulation (ASR), driver SRS airbag, ADR84/00 Front Underrun Protection (FUP), UN ECE R29-rated cab strength and reverse camera.

All AMT models are equipped with an Easy Start system that assists with smooth take-off after stopping on a slope.

LED lights have been selected as the light source for the headlamps and Daytime Running Lamps as they produce a clear, bright white light and eliminate the need for bulb changes.

“At launch, all 700 Series 4x2, 6x2 and 6x4 models will feature Hino SmartSafe as standard equipment,” said Mr Petrovski.

“Delays in validating the VSC and PCS systems on the 8x4 models have meant that the Hino FY 8x4 models introduced in 2021 are without the full Hino SmartSafe active safety package of VSC, PCS and DM.

“The addition of Hino SmartSafe to the 8x4 models will occur in mid-2022.

“We have made this decision in order to fulfil our customers’ requests for low tare weight and load share steer axle equipped A09 and E13 8x4 trucks with the renowned Hino Quality, Durability and Reliability (QDR),” concluded Mr Petrovski.