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What Van? Awards 2023: Safety Award – Fiat Professional Ducato

Date: Friday, December 16, 2022

“It is also good news that this Platinum rating has been achieved by a shared van platform within the Stellantis group. The Ducato’s performance has the potential to benefit a huge chunk of the market because the Vauxhall Movano, Peugeot Boxer and Citroën Relay share the same production platform. We hope the Ducato’s features will be made available on these vans too.”

For now, though, the Ducato’s ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) set it apart.

The manufacturer is billing the Ducato as the first ever light commercial vehicle with level two autonomous technology where the steering as well as acceleration or braking are controlled at the same time. The Ducato is in at the start of the self-driving van revolution and it harnesses its driver aid systems impressively. The Ducato is more refined than other vans that employ similar technology. Not only does it deftly control the steering inputs but also gently applies the brakes or increases acceleration to keep you on course at the required speed, and it will do this when cornering.

That’s because the Ducato’s Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop&Go functionality is finely tuned into the Lane Keep Assist and Traffic Jam Assist functions, making driving the Ducato not only easier but also safer. 

There are other features that have started becoming standard fit on other models too, like a speed limiter, pedestrian detecting braking, road sign recognition and driver attentiveness monitoring. Not to mention Cross-Wind Assist, Trailer Stability Control and Active Park Assist, which can do parallel and perpendicular parking, but it is the way in which the Ducato does all of these without ever feeling overbearing or overly controlling that set it apart. 

A less safety-critical but nonetheless useful feature is the digital centre mirror that gives you a crystal clear view of the road behind you, in a screen that not only looks like a traditional rear view mirror, but can also function as one at the flip of a switch. Fiat Professional also deserves praise for providing a five-year warranty, roadside assistance and service package as standard with the E-Ducato. The warranty involves the regular three years, plus an extra two, or up to 125,000 miles, whichever comes first. The roadside assistance is a 24/7 offering, while the free servicing is either every 30,000 miles or once every two years.

Highly Commended: Lightfoot

Driver coaching firm Lightfoot has launched a new feature designed to deter drivers from speeding. The Live Overspeed Alerts feature, available as an add-on to Lightfoot’s dashboard-mounted live coaching device, notifies drivers when they exceed the limit, and encourages them to adjust their speed with a series of warnings should they continue speeding for ten seconds or more. Drivers who ignore the alerts receive a Lightfoot system penalty, and if they receive five or more of these penalties in a week they become ineligible to enter the weekly giveaways and competitions available via the Lightfoot Driver App. Penalties are also reported to fleet managers, allowing them to swiftly identify repeat offenders, and monitor improvements over time.