Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Trost (48), the developer of Mercedes-Benz Active Brake Assist for commercial vehicles, has been presented with the 2007 European Commercial Vehicle Safety award. The technical appraisal organisation DEKRA, the German Traffic Safety Council (DVR) and the European Association for Accident Research and Analysis (EVU) have honoured the head of the Driver Assistance Systems department at DaimlerChrysler AG for his outstanding contribution to the development of Active Brake Assist, which considerably improves the operating safety of commercial vehicles. The award was presented at the 2nd DEKRA Active Safety Symposium in Klettwitz (Brandenburg).

As head of Driver Assistance Systems at DaimlerChrysler, Dr. Trost with his team has worldwide responsibility for the development of safety and assistance functions for heavy commercial vehicles. The main focus of his work is on the development of electronic architectures for commercial verhicles, strategic projects such as “Steer by Wire” and active safety systems.

In 2002 the electronics expert and his colleagues have previously been nominated for the “German Future Award – The Federal President’s Award for Technology and Innovation” for the development of this emergency braking system for heavy commercial vehicles, a project which had the working title of “Protector” at the time.

This year will be the 18th time that the 2007 European Commercial Vehicle Safety Award has been presented. It is awarded for an outstanding technical innovation or to honour the life’s work of an individual. Its recipients are internationally well-known experts who have made an outstanding contribution to the safety of commercial vehicles.

This further honour for the life-saving technology of Mercedes-Benz Active Brake Assist joins a list of similar awards which also includes the “Yellow Angel” presented by the ADAC.