The aim of the project, which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, was to develop an assistance system that helps to avoid dangerous turning accidents between large motor vehicles (trucks, buses, etc.) and cyclists. The technical implementation was carried out by the engineering office Spies and the Institute for Measurement and Control Technology of the KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology). We accompanied the technical development with a user-centred approach. From traffic observations and surveys of lorry drivers and cyclists, we derived requirements for the assistance system and incorporated them into the design of the HMI and the warning strategies. We validated the assistance system and its HMI over the three-year development process in the driving simulator and on the test site. We were supported in this by our application partners in heavy goods transport (Meyer & Meyer) and the Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrradclub e.V. (German Cyclists' Association).

At the end of the project, the prototype of an assistance system was available that enabled the detection of cyclists, the prediction of critical situations and effective warning strategies in and outside the truck.