Too safe for safety?
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It’s 5pm on Saturday and I’m at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport nursing a £13 beer. I’ve spent the day in Arjeplog, in the frozen north, where I’ve been driving prototype versions of the new Mercedes-Benz Citan on icy lakes. I say ‘frozen north’, but it was 7ºC – which, in my eyes, isn’t conducive with driving anything (other than a boat) on a lake. Still, I was assured by the people who built the test track that the ice is still 1m thick, and will be until Easter.
Messing around in vans on sheet ice might sound like every diesel/petrol-head’s dream, but it was a lot less fun than it sounds. Why? Because Mercedes has fitted the Citan with the latest Bosch ESP (ESP9) as standard. And what’s more, it’s set the tolerance so low, that as soon as there’s a hint of ‘fun’, the clever box of tricks immediately reduces torque, applies the brakes and, if necessary, brings you to a standstill. It’s impressive, but it’s also incredibly boring. Driving a Citan on ice is like drinking alcohol-free beer or taking your wife with you on a lads’ holiday to Vegas!
But while I applaud anything that makes commercial vehicles safer, I can’t help but wonder if all the three-letter safety acronyms that increasingly come as standard, give inexperienced drivers a false sense of security. Does it encourage them to take risks, knowing that if they get into trouble, the vehicle will soon get them out of it? What they fail to understand is that however clever the vehicle is, you can’t overrule physics completely. This is what so many inexperienced 4x4 owners discover to their detriment every winter. Yes, their SUV accelerates and handles superbly on snow, but when the brakes are applied, bugger all happens!
Will Shiers