Safety - at the heart of all our thinking.

The majority of accidents start long before the actual collision: with a lapse in concentration, poor visibility or hazards which cannot be anticipated. That's why the Mercedes-Benz safety concept employs a range of measures to support safe driving in everyday operation and to help you bring critical situations under control.

The ADAPTIVE BRAKE system improves ride comfort and safety. On the one hand it helps to perform critical braking manoeuvres with the basic function of the ABS anti-lock braking system while on the other hand, convenience functions make coping with daily driving situations easier.

Hill Start Assist prevents unintentional rolling back of the vehicle on slopes when the driver moves his foot from the brake pedal to the accelerator pedal. The "pre-fill" function ensures that the brake pads are already put in contact with the brake discs as soon as the driver releases the accelerator pedal. The resulting time saving can shorten the stopping distance.

The flashing brake lights can help in an emergency situation to significantly shorten the reaction time of road users following behind. The LED adaptive brake lights thus make an important contribution to preventing rear-end collisions.

In particular on long trips and when driving at night ATTENTION ASSIST can increase driving safety. Based on the driver's steering behaviour the system recognises typical signs of fatigue and severe inattentiveness and issues visual and audible warnings of impending microsleep.

A five-level bar graph in the instrument cluster multifunction display represents the current attention level of the driver. The time elapsed since the last break is also shown.

If the driver's attention level declines too far, a coffee cup icon is displayed to inform that a break is advisable; an audible warning sounds as well. At the same time COMAND Online offers to search for a Services Area. If the setting "Sensitive" is selected, the system warns the driver even earlier.

The system can recognise an emergency stop by the driver and increases the brake pressure within fractions of a second to shorten the stopping distance. To do so, Brake Assist interprets the speed at which the brake pedal is depressed.

In critical handling situations, the Electronic Stability Program ESP® can keep the vehicle from skidding. With targeted brake interventions on individual wheels ESP® reduces oversteer or understeer tendencies and thus increases handling safety.

Permanent monitoring of the tyre pressure increases driving safety and the service life of the tyres. The tyre pressure on all four wheels is monitored by sensors and shown on the dashboard display.

Reverse parking and manoeuvring is considerably easier and safer using the rear-view camera. Protected by a flap, it automatically extends when reverse gear is engaged and shows the driver the surroundings behind the vehicle with dynamic guidelines on the media display.

In strong gusts of crosswind the system can help the driver to stay on course. Targeted brake interventions significantly reduce the vehicle's lateral drift. This enhances the driver's sense of security and helps prevent undue reactions.

Mercedes-Benz stands for automotive safety. That's why our vehicles can support their passengers even in critical driving situations, so that every journey is as safe as it can possibly be.

In particular during emergency braking the anti-locking braking system (ABS) provides more driving safety by preventing the wheels from locking. This assists the driver in maintaining control of the vehicle, for instance during evasive manoeuvres or when braking on a slippery road.

Moving off or accelerating on snow, wet roads or loose ground – under these conditions ASR acceleration skid control reduces wheel slip to prevent the vehicle from skidding.

This automatic and autonomous system can, within a given speed range, use brake interventions to keep individual drive wheels from spinning when starting off or accelerating or both drive wheels from momentarily spinning on bends.

This system can identify critical handling situations in advance and initiate preventive measures for occupant protection in the event of an impending accident. These include e.g. the reversible belt tensioning or the automatic closing of any open windows.

Cars from Mercedes-Benz have a host of safety systems to prevent accidents. Should the worst come to the worst, however, a number of occupant safety measures are activated. They include protection for the vehicle occupants as well as for other road users.

In a frontal collision the airbags can help to protect the torso and head of the driver and front passenger. They also help to stabilise the whole body. This can mitigate the risk of severe injuries in an accident. The deployment of the airbags is commensurate to the severity of the impact.

Should a head-on pedestrian-vehicle collision occur, in certain circumstances the rear section of the bonnet can be raised. The increased distance to the engine compartment assemblies creates additional deformation space, which can reduce the risk of injury to the pedestrian in certain accident situations.

The driver's-side kneebag can help to protect the legs in a frontal collision as well as stabilising the entire body. It can thus help mitigate the severity of injuries sustained in an accident.

A robust side wall assembly offers occupants the best possible protection in the event of a side-on collision.

In a side-on collision the side airbags can help to protect the torso and pelvic area of driver and front passenger. They also help to stabilise the whole body. This can reduce the risk of severe injuries in an accident.

In a side-on collision the sidebags can help to protect the torsos of the rear passengers. They are integrated into the rear side panelling and inflate at chest height between the side of the vehicle and the occupants.

In a frontal collision or roll-over the system ensures restraint systems such airbags and seat belt tensioners are deployed swiftly and appropriately to the situation.

The windowbag can cover the side window if a side-on collision or an overturn is detected, thereby helping to reduce the risk of an occupant's head hitting the side of the vehicle and helping prevent external objects penetrating the interior of the vehicle.

To reduce consequential damage after an accident and support the work of the rescue services, a number of different actions are initiated, depending on the type and severity of the impact registered by the system:

• Best possible protection: the engine can be turned off automatically and the fuel supply can be cut off.
• Eye-catching lighting: hazard and emergency interior lights can activate automatically to lower the risk of accidents and help locate the car.
• Automatic ventilation: if an airbag is deployed, the power windows are lowered automatically.
• Easy opening: After an accident the doors can be unlocked automatically to make it easier for the occupants or rescue workers to open them.
• Improved rescue measures: integrated crash joints between the wing and door can speed up rescue work by allowing the doors to be opened more easily after a frontal collision.
• Helpful connection: In the event of an accident the Mercedes-Benz emergency call system can help to speed up the arrival of the rescuers at the accident scene decisively. The data is transferred via a mobile connection provided by a communications module with its own SIM card. The emergency call is therefore independent of the operational readiness of a mobile phone that might have been damaged or whose battery may be discharged.

Every second counts when it comes to occupant rescue after an accident. That's why Daimler has devised the rescue sticker, a small but effective innovation that gives emergency services immediate access to safety-relevant vehicle-specific design details at the scene of the accident. The QR code stickers are affixed to the vehicle's fuel tank cap and the B-pillar on the opposite side. They can easily be retrofitted and are part of the series specification for all new vehicles. In an emergency, rescue services personnel can scan the QR code with a smart phone or tablet PC to rapidly and reliably access the appropriate rescue card, which will assist them in their work.[1].

To complete its holistic safety philosophy, Mercedes-Benz has also published multilingual rescue guidelines (accessible worldwide on the internet) as a preventive measure for rescue services.