Travel in a Motorhome Safely and With Peace of Mind, Thanks to Ducato Adas

More peace of mind on the road when on holiday, thanks to the driver assistance systems offered by Ducato. The team that designed the Ducato motorhome base had a clear goal: for the entire crew to travel safely and at the same time to reduce as much as possible driver stress in certain driving conditions. A wide range of thoroughly tested systems for on-board safety and driving (ADAS) are therefore available.

For a quick overview, it is natural to start with the sophisticated ESC, which brings together several functions and is the cornerstone of active safety on the road. The sophisticated ESC electronic vehicle stability system constantly monitors the direction and movement of the wheels and intervenes when necessary by decreasing speed and braking each individual wheel. The ESC integrates various safety and driver assistance systems: Cross Wind Assist, to stabilise the vehicle in strong crosswinds; Roll Over Mitigation, activated when it senses a danger of rollover; plus Trailer Stability Control, to dampen dangerous oscillations of a linked trailer. There is also the Post Collision Braking System, which automatically brakes the vehicle in the event of an accident to prevent possible further collisions.

Two systems help with climbs and descents: Hill Holder prevents the vehicle from rolling back when starting uphill, whereas Hill Descent Control maintains speed on demanding descents.

On difficult terrain, the Traction+ traction control device comes to the rescue, very useful when starting on slippery surfaces: it brakes any wheel that loses grip by transferring torque to the other wheel.

Several systems are also designed to help the driver keep everything under control, providing information and “alarms” to avoid collisions. Blind Spot Assist warns of vehicles that are not visible from the side mirror, while Attention Assist monitors the driver’s degree of fatigue by generating alerts when an inappropriate driving mode is detected. The Full Brake Control System detects vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians, and triggers autonomous emergency braking if necessary. And when it comes to the top speed permitted, Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR) informs the driver by recognising traffic signs regarding the speed limit and overtaking. With Intelligent Speed Assist, this information is sent to the speed limiter, so the vehicle does not exceed the set limits.

With Adaptive Cruise Control, the set speed is also maintained depending on the distance from the vehicle in front. The Lane Control system, on the other hand, prevents the motorhome from unintentionally leaving its lane by correcting steering to prevent the vehicle from crossing the painted boundary lines or even the edges of the road. Active intervention is preceded by a haptic warning on the steering wheel and a visual and audible warning on the dashboard display.

The two systems above are combined in Traffic Jam Assist, for the vehicle to follow the lane and the flow of traffic without driver intervention, braking (even with a complete stop using Stop&Go), accelerating and steering autonomously when necessary.

The combined action of adaptive cruise control, the lane keeping system and Traffic Jam Assist brings the Ducato to the major milestone of Level 2 Autonomous Driving.

The option to equip the motorhome with Rear Cross Path Detection (RCD), a useful system when reversing for how it warns of approaching vehicles and helps avoid possible accidents, is undoubtedly interesting. 360 Park Warning is also offered on camper vans, with various parking sensors (front, rear and side) for semi-automatic parking manoeuvres.

Our brief overview must also include TPMS, to monitors tyre pressure, High Beam Recognition, which automatically dips the headlights if necessary, and the Rain and Dusk Sensor, to automatically activate the windshield wipers and low beams.

Let’s set off on holiday safe and sound: the Ducato motorhome base offers a variety of safety and driver assistance systems, which communicate with the vehicle and help the driver, providing a high-level driving experience.