Driving Safety Training for RoadStars at the Driving Center in Baden

Emergency braking on slush.

“Here, I want to see proper emergency braking. Imagine that there's suddenly a pedestrian in the road!” explains instructor Thomas to the group just before they start the exercise on a stretch of asphalt which has been covered with water using a sprinkler system. “It has the same effect as if we were driving on slush.”

RoadStar Sven steps firmly on the anchors – and is astounded to see that the truck still continues moving on the “slush”, regardless of the brakes being applied. “That proves to me that in such a situation, I have to make sure I'm driving with a well-adapted speed and leave a safe distance to other vehicles,” says the young driver from near Frankfurt. “It's amazing that we get the chance to do something like this here totally risk-free!”

What difference does a change in road surface make? What's the relationship between speed and braking distance? Or what can assistance and safety systems do to help? That's why there are theoretical aspects are interspersed between the various exercises. All of this makes for a day of training which, for the German drivers, is officially recognised as a supplementary qualification by the professional driver laws.

– Roger, a RoadStar from The Netherlands with a blue steering wheel

It's all about keeping your eyes peeled!

RoadStar Roger is an old hand: “I've been driving for 23 years and so it's good to get a bit of a refresher every now and again,” says the man from The Netherlands. One example of this is where to look on the slalom course: “Don't look at the obstruction, focus on the side to which you wish to steer!” says instructor Martin. “And make sure your steering is gentle; a quarter of a turn to the right or left is sufficient here!” It only takes a few minutes and the drivers master the course with ease, even at increasing road speed. “That was really fun,” says Sven afterwards. “At the end of the exercise, I was able to do it flat-out!”

Ensuring even greater enthusiasm was the “Dynamic area” with the wet circular track of 55-metre diameter. “How will we do on the wet tarmac with ESP switched off?” asks Hubert. Everyone already knows the theoretical answer: brief accelerations and countersteering should prevent the vehicle breaking out and make for some impressive drifting in a truck. It takes a little while before everyone grasps it in practice – but Hubert is more than happy to give the RoadStars time to experience it for themselves!

An added challenge: avoiding an obstacle.

The final stage calls for another round of emergency braking: on a dry road at a speed of up to 80 km/h but with the added hindrance of having an obstacle to avoid. “Nice braking, but next time, you should steer a little sooner,” shouts instructor Martin into the radio after RoadStar Jürgen touches a cone at the last second. Feedback which incites the driver to do his best: in the next lap, the cone stays firmly put.

“We're from all over the place and all got along really well from the outset. That's the Mercedes feeling,” says RoadStar Roger from The Netherlands at the side of the round track before cheering on his Romanian colleague Gheorghe a few moments later for his mastery of the exercise with the ”tipper” combination. And that's also another important aspect of the day: bringing the Europe-wide RoadStars community members a little closer to one another.

Photos and video: Alex Kraus
Editing: Alexander Tempel