International Truck, the commercial truck brand of Navistar International, now offers enhanced features of the Bendix Wingman Fusion collision mitigation system on its International LT Series, RH Series, MV Series, HV Series and HX Series trucks, the company announced. The enhanced Fusion safety system will be standard equipment on new International LT series and RH Series trucks.

The enhanced Fusion system now offers these additional features:

• Enhanced collision mitigation and stationary vehicle braking;

• Multilane automatic emergency braking;

• Highway departure braking; and

• Enhanced Adaptive Cruise Control.

The enhanced Wingman Fusion system now has the capacity to apply increased braking power on the tractor and trailer when compared to the original Fusion system. It also retains the capabilities of the system’s earlier versions, such as stationary object alerts, overspeed alerts and intervention, lane departure warning, and prioritized alerts to help reduce driver distraction.

“Our DriverFirst philosophy drives us to continually improve product features that matter most to our customers, and safety is always a significant concern,” said Charles Chilton, vice president of Navistar’s Product Strategy and Planning. “With our shared commitment to the driver, vehicle and highway safety, we’re proud to advance the safety features available on our products in collaboration with Bendix.”

Updated Side Object Detection

International has also added the updated optional Bendix BlindSpotter Side Object Detection System features for the LT Series and RH Series. International said it has enhanced the optional Blindspotter system through improved integration with the vehicle’s controller area network. With this new integration, the updated BlindSpotter system provides a wider, 150-degree range of coverage, which is capable of detecting objects up to 20 feet in front of and 20 feet behind the BlindSpotter radar. The coverage zone extends up to 10 feet to the right of the vehicle.

By operating in two modes – highway speeds and lower speeds – the updated Blindspotter system can better filter stationary objects, such as guardrails, at highway speeds, and narrows the range for alerts without filtering stationary objects or infrastructure at speeds less than 20 mph. The updated BlindSpotter system maintains the look, size, position and mounting hardware of its radar and in-cab display units.

Additional Driver-Friendly Options

Building on these safety benefits are two new systems offered as optional on both the LT and RH Series, International said: the Bendix Wingman Fusion with ACB (Active Cruise with Braking) Stop and Driver Go, and Lane Keep Assist.

International said that with these additions, it is the only truck maker to offer Bendix Wingman Fusion with ACB Stop and Driver Go. This system includes the benefits of Wingman Fusion with enhanced features, and ACB Stop and Driver Go, which allows for Adaptive Cruise Control to remain active down to low vehicle speeds, including full stop. Once at stop, if the driver applies throttle and reaches 7 mph, the system can re-accelerate the vehicle to the cruise control set speed, provided there is no object detected ahead.

“ACB Stop and Driver Go is a driver-satisfying feature in heavy stop-and-go traffic, while the Comfort Braking that is another enhancement of the system provides smoother application of the foundation brakes,” Chilton noted.

Another optional system offered on the LT and RH Series is Lane Keep Assist, which supports the driver with assisted steering torque to remain within the lane of travel when a pending unintended lane departure is recognized. The system’s active steering dynamically adjusts steering effort based on vehicle speed, allowing lighter steering at low speeds to aid in maneuvering in parking lot situations, and heaver/firmer steering at higher speed to aid in control of the vehicle. The system – built on an existing Sheppard steering gear that is already standard on many Navistar vehicles – also includes compensation to counter cross winds or road crowning, steering wheel return-to-center assist, and active damping to reduce steering wheel oscillations and improve feel.