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Prevost safety devices
Hello fellow Prevost owners!
On the new Prevost coaches, they come with a crash avoidance system. I’m not sure when these were installed but they are quite helpful in the event of an emergency (haven’t used it for that purpose, yet).
When following traffic and the car slows in front of you, there are a row of lights around the speedometer that indicates the speed of the slower car. If I’m going 70 and the car in front of me is going 55, a string of lights will light up ‘yellow’ from my speed of 70 mph to the slow car speed of 55 mph.
If I don’t slow up, a whole ring of red lights illuminate around the speedometer and a warning alarm sounds. Then the retarder kicks in to high gear slowing the coach very quickly. It’s nice to have that extra safety built-in.
Mark
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19 Replies
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Mark,
Unless and until someone learns of how advanced the new shells are they don’t realize how far coaches have come with regard to safety features.
What you describe is the braking system that I think is adaptive braking that is automaticly maintaining a safe stopping distance when on Cruise Control. The coach also likely has a stability control that will prevent loss of control, a tire pressure monitoring system, a fire suppression system, and on board diagnostics.
I think when Prevost introduced the multiplex system in 2007 it began a long list of technical improvements that are just amazing.
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Hi Mark,
I think it is awesome that we have this safety device on our coaches. Still trying to get used to how that operates. I’ve noticed that if you are approaching a vehicle it gradually starts to decrease your speed so you need to keep an eye on your own speed or you start to just pace the car in front of you. Jack
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Jack
Yes, I’ve noticed that too (coach pacing slower car). Also, if you want to pick up speed to pass a slower car that the coach is pacing, you can’t pick up speed until the avoidance system doesn’t see that car. You have to start changing lanes first then floor it.
It’s interesting that the CAS (crash avoidance system) detects the difference of a car going ‘slow and steady’ (coach will pace car) and if a car is slowing down (coach will offer warning of impending crash and all avoidance systems are activated).
The built-in radar dectector is also an interesting device. It notices several radar bands as it will announce which band it is detecting. It will also say “red light camera ahead” and once we pass that dectector, she will say “you have reached your marked location”. It’s nice that it has a ‘mute’ button if we are in a heavy radar area.
Glad to see that you have taken delivery of your new coach!
Safe travels,
Mark
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I’ve also wondered why Prevosts just come with lap belts and no shoulder belts. Have any of you gotten pulled over for the police thinking that you are not belted in as they don’t see a shoulder belt?
Just curious.
Mark
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The lap belts are a pain in the ass , they tighten up every time you move , I replaced mine with one that moves until you need it , then the belt brake applies and it works great!!!! Have never being pulled over for seat belt !!! Or pulled over for anything in 30 years of driving a bus !!!!! One speeding ticket in my pickup 15 miles from home go figure!!!
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Peter,
The reason why I asked about the shoulder belts is that a friend of ours was ticketed when driving from Las Vegas to Palm Springs (back route through Amboy). The officer saw our friend wearing his shoulder belt under his arm rather than over the shoulder (driving a Monaco Signature).
I guess if we are ever pulled over for that reason, I’ll just show them that we have just lap belts.
M.
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You are right Mark just show them the lap belt and all will be okay !!!
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New feature? I think not. Vorad Collision Avoidance have been around for a while. Our 06 Signature has it and for me, it is a must have feature. It has helped me be accident free but the major advantage is the active management of the cruise control. There are very few times that I have to disengage and reset the cruise control, even in traffic. The blind spot monitoring is another safety feature and comes in handy if a quick lane change is needed. It is a huge help when a dark colored car is in the shadow of the coach and you only have a second to glance at the mirrors.
I was talking to the folks at Parliament Coach about the lack of a Vorad system on many of the pre-owned Prevost conversions and they said that ~2005 and up models can have it added. Probably a $10k modification but one I would need to factor in to any purchase decision.
Once you’ve had it (and get used to it), it is hard to live without.
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Not to disagree Les, but I have put a few miles on the buses I owned and while there have been some instances where I was standing on the brakes and most of them would not have been preventable with any kind of on-board system.
The worst and closest was in the redwoods in CA when a pickup truck passed on the shoulder, pulled immediately in front and spiked his brakes. I came so close to hitting him all I could see was his roof and the front of the hood from the driver’s seat.
I know the bus is not like my cars so I drive it pretty conservatively. I hope I never get to the point where the use of an on board device is needed to keep me out of trouble.
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Les,
I should clarify, the Collision Avoidance System is new to ‘me’. It was an option on our ’08 Dynasty when we ordered it but didn’t get it. It is standard now on Prevost coaches (at least from the converter).
Safe travels,
Mark
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“I hope I never get to the point where the use of an on board device is needed to keep me out of trouble.”
Most safety devices are beneficial, but one must never forget the most important one is the ‘nut’ behind the wheel.
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Ted,
When I first heard of self driving cars, my thought was someone had been too deep into the juice. Then, as is often the case, a second thought came to mind, perhaps technology aimed at the loose “nutz” behind the wheel is the only way to tighten them up and make us all safer as we travel the road of life.
This is from someone who worked 43 years in all aspects of highway design, construction, as well as traffic safety.
I’ve had one “panic” application of braking. It was caused by being in the dilemma zone as I approached a traffic signal. It went “red” and my decision was to apply hard braking. We stopped about 10′ past the stop bar. No harm done.
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Will has just underlined an issue we all face and my only solution so far is to make a split second decision as to if I have enough stopping distance once it turns amber, or if I might as well cruise on through. I can say it is rare to find an amber light timed to the speed limit which I wish they would be. I would like to see the large vehicle stopping distance (time) at the posted speed limit, plus average reflex time as the minimum amber light time. But with so many red light cameras being used to fill the local coffers I don’t think that will happen any time soon.
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We have Vorad on our coach. I was very skeptical at first. I have over a million accident free miles behind the wheel of a CMV, so I think I’m a rather experienced and skillful driver. The Vorad showed me that my following distance wasn’t always as much as it should be. Lesson learned.
The past few days I’ve been covering some miles in a rental car for work. I’m developing the opinion that self driving cars can’t come too soon as very few people appear to pay any attention to their driving, and no attention to their speed.
I’m looking forward to getting back in the coach and traveling at a more sedate speed, just not quite as slow as Jon…
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I may be slow, but steady.
Remember the tortoise and the hare?
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