Yahoo Autos A Rare Peek Inside Mercedes' Safety Technology Center
Thanks to Béla Barényi–the Hungarian engineer who came up with the idea of passive safety–Mercedes-Benz started to focus on building safer cars earlier than most carmakers. But the work that began more than fifty years ago is getting more and more important every day as customer expectations and state requirements move towards having zero fatal car accidents, or no accidents at all.
Sophisticated sensors, endless lines of data and artificial intelligence will get us there eventually, but until then, Daimler will still have to crash a large number of prototypes to see how the metal (and the occupants' spines) bend after hitting unmovable objects at speed. Needless to say, Daimler's Vehicle Safety Technology Center is a massive complex full of orange dust.
Here's how they tested the 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class:
Funny enough, Euro NCAP had this to say about the latest Benz sedan after smashing it from multiple angles:
"The Mercedes-Benz E-Class performed well but was the only car tested in the 'Executive Car' category so cannot be awarded 'Best in Class'. In a year that underlined Euro NCAP's influence, the E-Class was also noted for its exceptional performance in child occupant protection. With an automatic passenger airbag disabling system and excellent dynamic test results, it is clear that Daimler has invested greatly in an area of assessment recently made more demanding by Euro NCAP."
In America, the 2017 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class got the IIHS' Top Safety Pick + rating, while the C-Class is among 2017's 44 Top Safety Pick winners.
You Might Also Like
