Scania joins voluntary agreement of European bus and coach manufacturers on fire detection systems

According to the public statistics, buses and coaches are the safest mode of passenger transport. The major European bus and coach manufacturers have now joined forces to improve safety even further and adopt suitable measures that take into account the passengers' increasing awareness with regard to the issue of fire safety.
As part of these deliberations, an initiative sponsored by European bus and coach manufacturers has agreed to fit all buses and coaches as a standard with fire detection systems in the engine compartment and around the auxiliary heater.
These systems have been available for some years on a voluntary basis. The manufacturers EvoBus (Mercedes-Benz/Setra), Irisbus/Iveco, MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG (MAN/NEOPLAN), Scania, Solaris Bus, VDL Bus & Coach and Volvo, that collectively account for about 85% of the European market, have signed up to a voluntary agreement.
 
Under the agreement, all touring coaches and scheduled-service buses that are delivered to EU member states will be fitted, by January 2011 the latest, with equipment that notifies the driver directly and immediately if there is a risk of an expanding fire.
As the vast majority of fires on buses and coaches originate in the engine compartment, the fitting of these early warning systems will avoid passengers’ concerns as well as reduce vehicle damages by enabling a rapid evacuation or even extinction of the fire.
The voluntary agreement covering fire detection systems is open to all bus and coach manufacturers in Europe that have not yet signed up to the initiative – other manufacturers are welcome to join.