PreView Side Defender II Earns KBA National Type Approval

To receive approval, a system must accurately detect and warn the driver of moving bicyclists within defined areas of interest while ignoring stationary objects.

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As incident rates involving bicyclists, pedestrians, and other vulnerable road users (VRU) continue to rise, governments and cities around the world are demanding the improvement of on-road VRU protections and vehicle safety. PRECO Electronics has developed PreView Side Defender II, the first radar-based side blind spot solution with active VRU warning and visual-display with Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) National Type Approval. 

“Receiving KBA certification has made it possible for commercial vehicles to now use the Side Defender II retrofit and CAN-based systems in Germany,” says Tom Loutzenheiser, PRECO’s Vice President of Business Development. “Meeting all German Abbiegeassistent side turn assist qualifications, Side Defender®II can detect moving VRUs in the driver’s blind spot accurately and reliably in crowded urban environments. Germany and the KBA have high standards, and as one of the first to pass the functional requirement testing, this type-approval shows our solution can make a difference in improving on-road VRU safety.”

Quick facts: 

  • Over 9,499 people are killed each year on urban roads in the European Union (EU), according to European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) 2019 research.
  • In European cities, 70% of road deaths are pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists, according to this year’s ETSC statistics.
  • In Germany, Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) 2018 report on “Accidents with Right Turning Trucks” found 92% of accidents caused by right turning trucks involve bicyclists, while pedestrians make up the remaining 8%.

Large on-road trucks and buses pose an incredible threat to bicyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists, and others in smaller vehicles. Recognizing the issue, Germany has led vehicle and VRU safety standards in the EU, working on adding to current regulations and to modify specifications to apply to new and existing vehicles alike.

Promoting the implementation of side turn assistance systems to improve awareness for operators and safety for VRUs on the road, Germany has begun providing subsidies as part of the “Aktion Abbiegeassistent” campaign. Put in place by Federal Minister Andreas Scheuer and the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) last year, the campaign outlines the functional specifications systems must meet to qualify for subsidies. To qualify, systems are required to hold national type-approval from the KBA. As well as accurately detect and warn the driver of moving bicyclists within defined areas of interest while ignoring stationary objects to qualify. 

As Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority, the KBA ensures all EU vehicle requirements are met within Germany. The KBA grants type-approval for vehicles and vehicle components following national and international statutory regulations. For KBA type-approval, a company must verify its legitimacy, demonstrate how production meets quality standards, and substantiate how obligations will be fulfilled as future type-approval holders.

Today, PRECO’s Side Defender II retrofit and CAN-based systems are both KBA certified and eligible for subsidies for vehicles of 3.5 tonnes and greater in Germany. Designed for ease of integration for new and on-the-road vehicles, commercial fleets now have the tools to meet Aktion Abbiegeassistent safety requirements and subsidies by improving operator awareness.

“There has been a global-awakening to the necessity of technological solutions capable of minimizing on-road incidents, especially those involving VRUs in the EU,” says Matt Wood, PRECO’s Vice President of Global Sales. “It is evident there is a need for a reliable solution like Side Defender II, which alerts the driver whenever a VRU enters a truck’s side blind zone to avoid collisions when making a passenger-side turn.”

In the ADAC testing service’s recent EU side turn assist comparison, Side Defender II, presented by MEKRA Lang in Germany as the turning assistant AAS, was deemed the best performing side turn assistance system both in testing and on the real road.

Examined in the form of specific test scenarios based on the requirements of the BMVI and the draft specifications of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) – the Side Defender II AAS-fusion highlighted the significant difference between the capabilities of the other systems and technologies available, according to the ADAC.

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