(^24) ABC May 2018 busnews.com.au
COVERSTORY NEW PRODUCT
A TALL
STORY
WORDS FABIAN COTTER
W
HERE TO
BEGIN?
There is so
much to
cover...
In its rawest terms, and right off
the bat, the salient points are this:
As an OEM bus it can apply the
brakes itself in an emergency, and
it can inspire greater Australasian
tourism patronage, capitalising on
year-on-year statistical growth and
imbuing ‘bus travel’ with much
needed ‘halo status’ to the benefit
of us all. Or something like it at least- given the iconic Setra brand from
the massive Daimler stable is not
intended for our shores. But we will
get to that.
Firstly, though, it’s the safety
features that have put the Setra S
531 DT on the global bus and coach
map. In the right combination of
the latest iterations of Active Brake
Assist (4) and Sideguard Assist, it
is a first on any bus or coach in the
world, according to Daimler.
The beauty of the new Setra S 531 DT
high-end double-deck coach is twofold –
and a mere listing of specifications in no
way would do it justice. What it represents
in other aspects of city bus travel and
greater coach tourism in future truly
sets it apart. A game-changer? Indeed.
And then some...And while technologies such as
Active Brake Assist and advances
similar to Sideguard Assist – for the
blind spots; it monitors a vehicle’s
side periphery - have been on cars
from a few marques for a while
now (and even, in more recent
times, on trucks) on a bus such
capabilities are arguably even more
at home. How so?
Buses and coaches are at heights
and widths and lengths that make
‘mindfulness’ of pedestrians in
dangerous proximity to a moving
bus in city environments crucial.
Doubt that? Just go watch at street
level in major cities at peak periods
on weekdays during lunch hour.
Observe busy intersections for the
‘cellphone-obsessed zombies’ who
obliviously cross the paths of traffic
in their trance-like state. Sure, not
all are in full-on ‘Dawn of the Living
Dead 7.3’ mode, but a lot of them
these days are.
In the event of an unforeseen
human error or otherwise, such