After introducing low-entry cabs in its the L-series, Scania is now presenting the City Door: an optional, fast-opening, inward swinging glass door. The design provides better visibility, therefore higher safety for both the driver and other road users, as well.
Scania City Door offers safe and ergonomic boarding as well as an improved vision for Scania L-series users in busy urban environments. The trucks have so far only been offered with conventional doors, along with an optional Scania City Safe Window on the passenger side.
How is a glass door safe for the driver in case of a crash?
Designing the new L-cab with the City Door has been a demanding challenge for Scania’s engineers. How do you ensure safety when a crucial part of the cab body structure that has already been verified through simulation and physical crash testing is replaced?
Since we added the City Door to an existing cab, we needed to adapt the basic cab body structure,” says Project Manager Pelle Ingemansson, Scania Special Vehicles. “We knew that cutting into the body could affect strength, load bearing capacity and safety, which would require recertification.”
This entailed a number of design iterations. For example, by strengthening the door frame and cab floor, they would remain sufficiently unimpaired to carry crash forces through the cab back to the rear wall.
Another alteration is that the passenger seat has been moved slightly backwards for greater protection and to increase floor area when entering and exiting.
Ultimately, this truck is now certified as safe as all other trucks. “We now know that we can ensure safety for the driver and passenger at a normal motorway speed, which is important since the truck won’t only be travelling at low speeds in cities,” says Ingemansson.
Photo credit @ Scania Trucks