Mercedes-Benz Accidents and Crashes

Escape: Because Accidents Happen WGHB showed an unbelievable crash. A Mercedes-Benz cabriolet at 150 mph lost traction, hit the railing, flipped and skidded upside down. It was filmed by police from a bridge close-by. The driver walked away from the accident. Béla Barényi (1907-1997) pioneered passive safety and worked for Daimler-Benz most of his life.

best pick (M-class) vs worst

SL Rollover Pictures
"With the new automatic roll-over bar and extremely rigid A-pillars, the SL offers a higher level of protection even in a roll-over."

Extreme test of the E-Class (W124) A-Pillar and Wagon rear crash tests
The A-Pillar supports the total weight of 190 Mercedes-Benz!

96 E-Class (W210) crash tests, W124 and W123 to compare

New '03 E-Class (W211) crash tests
The crash performance of the new E-Class is very impressive, indeed. See for yourself and compare. It received five stars in the EURO NCAP crash test lateron, a rare result.

Some W108 (1965-1972) crash tests

Smart crash test, incl against a E-Class

New C-Class crash tests
Mercedes uses advanced super computer simulations to develop and optimise the overall crash performance, one reason why these results are so impressive.

Mercedes C-class receives 5 stars in EURO NCAP, only the second car to ever achieve 5 stars in this demanding test

Freightliner/Mercedes/Dodge Sprinter cargo and passenger van crash and ESP tests

C-Class Sportscoupe crash tests

M-Class crashes

G-Class crashes

S-Class W220, W140 and W126 crash tests

SL-Class R129 crashes

Commercial truck crash tests

Landwind SUV crash test (bootnetworks)

Two-car crash tests

Mercedes-Benz crashed car hall
Crashed tested cars are stored in this hall.

Mercedes M-Class crash test movie

Mercedes M-Class Crash Test Video Youtube
Auto, Motor & Sport M-Class Offset Crash Video 6.9 MB, avi

MB archive, Dr. Niemann

Béla Barényi patented the occupant safety cell in 1951 and it was granted on August 28, 1952. He previously invented the basic design of the Volkswagen. The crumple zone premiered in 1953 with the Mercedes-Benz 180, the Pontons. The world's first production vehicle with rigid passenger cage and integrated crumple zone are the 1959 W111 fin-tails: Mercedes 220, 220S and 220SE. The principle may be simple, but it's difficult to construct. It even took Mercedes 10 years, and by 1970 less than 10% of the world's new cars had rigid safety cages integrated with crumple zones.

Mercedes-Benz wedge-pin door lock

MB archive, Dr. Niemann

Already in 1921 Mercedes were known for their solid construction. The original text under this picture said: "An accident with a happy end. This car ran into a wall with full speed and rolled over. Thanks to the solid Mercedes-Benz chassis the occupants remained completely uninjured and could leave the car through the doors." Owners sometimes wrote letters to Daimler-Benz, thanking them for the outstanding performance of their Mercedes in an accident.

New US study: Mercedes-Benz E-Class is the safest car in the USA
The E-Class offers the best occupant safety of all passengers cars registered in the USA. That was the conclusion reached by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) after extensive accident analysis which was published in their status report dated March 19, 2005. Between 2000 and 2003, they looked at how many drivers were killed in road accidents. The Mercedes-Benz E-Class obtained the best results of all the models examined: it accounts for ten fatal accidents a year for every million vehicles registered. The comparable average figure for all passenger cars is almost nine times higher than the E-Class. The results from the Mercedes-Benz S-Class are equally impressive. With a score of 25, the S-Class is the safest car in the "Luxury Class, very large" category. The practical Mercedes-Benz safety concept is based on analysing real-world accidents and defines vehicle safety as a whole, ranging from accident prevention by means of electronic assistance systems through occupant protection that adapts to the severity of the impact, to allowing passengers to be rescued as quickly as possible after an accident. text: Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz Crash Tests

Curtrich's special safety issue, December 2003: "THE TRUTH ABOUT CRASH TESTS"

Offset crashes primarily test a vehicle's structure.

Mercedes M-Class	2006-2008	Front+side+head	****	IIHS	2185 kg	Top pick
Mercedes M-Class	1999-2005	Front+side airbags	****	IIHS	2020 kg	Best pick
Mercedes M-Class	2002-2005	Front+side+head	****	ENCAP 30P	2100 kg
Mercedes B-Class	2006 on	Front+side+head	*****	ENCAP 34P	1435 kg
Mercedes A-Class	2005 on	Front+side+head	*****	ENCAP 36P	1230 kg
Mercedes SLK	2002-2004	Front+side	****	ENCAP 26P	1430 kg
Mercedes E-Class	2003-2006	Front+side+head	****	IIHS	1790 kg	Best Pick
Mercedes E-Class	2002 on	Front+side+head	*****	ENCAP 33P	1650 kg
Mercedes C-Class	2008 on	Front+side+head	*****	ENCAP 36P	1485 kg
Mercedes C-Class	2002-2007	Front+side+head	*****	ENCAP 33P	1455 kg
Mercedes C-Class	2001-2007	Front+side+head	****	IIHS	1540 kg	Best pick
Mercedes C-Class	2001-2007	Front+side+head	****	ENCAP 31P	1460 kg
Mercedes E-Class	2000-2002	Front+side+head	****	IIHS	1620 kg	Best pick
Mercedes A-Class	1998-2004	Front+side airbags	****	ENCAP 27P	1070 kg
Mercedes Vaneo Van	2003 on	Front+side airbags	****	ENCAP 27P	1365 kg
Mercedes E-Class	1998-2002	Front+side+head	****	ENCAP 26P	1440 kg
Mercedes E-Class	1997-2000	Front+side airbags	***	IIHS	1680 kg
Smart ForTwo	2007	Dual front airbags	****	ENCAP 28P	750 kg
Smart CityCoupe	1999-2006	Dual front airbags	***	ENCAP 22P	740 kg
Mercedes C-Class	1993-2000	Dual front airbags	**	ENCAP 16P	1299 kg

Key: [Highest/*****] [Good/****] [Acceptable/***] [Marginal/**] [Poor/*]

Frontal crashes primarily test the restraint system.

35 MPH (56km/h) full width frontal impact		frontal		side		rollover
		driver	passenger	front	rear	resistance
Mercedes-Benz S-Class 300SD	1984	* * *	* * * *	tested w/o airbags
Mercedes-Benz 190E	1990-1991	* * *	* * *	-	-
Mercedes-Benz C-Class C220	1994-1997	* * * *	* * * *	-	-
Mercedes-Benz C-Class C230	1998	* * * *	* * * *	* * *	* * * *
Mercedes-Benz C-Class C230	1999-2000	-	-	* * *	* * * *
Mercedes-Benz C-Class w/SAB	2003-2007	* * * *	* * * *	* * * * *	* * * * *	* * * *
Mercedes-Benz C-Class 4-DR. w/SAB	2008+	* * * *	* * * *	* * * * *	* * * * *	* * * *
Mercedes-Benz E-Class 4-DR. w/SAB	2003-2007	* * * *	* * * *	* * * * *	* * * * *	* * * * *
Mercedes E-Class Wagon 4-DR. w/SAB	2007	* * * *	* * * *	-	-	* * * * *
Mercedes E-Class Wagon 4-DR. w/SAB	2008	* * * *	* * * *	* * * * *	* * * * *	* * * * *
Mercedes-Benz M-Class 4X4 w/SAB	1998	* * * *	* * * * *	-	-	-
Mercedes-Benz M-Class 4X4 w/SAB	2003	-	-	-	-	* * *
Mercedes-Benz M-Class 4-DR	2006-2008	* * * * *	* * * * *	* * * * *	* * * * *	* * * *
smart ForTwo 2-DR w/SAB	2008	* * * *	* * *	* * * * *	-	* * *

M-CLASS RATES BEST IN INSURANCE INSTITUTE SAFETY CRASH TEST
The 1999 ML320 rates 'Best Pick' in safety crash tests performed at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and published in July 1999. Previously AMS had crash tested the M-Class with good results. The 1998 M-Class is also the first Mercedes-Benz to ever achieve 5 stars in a NHTSA crash test.

BUT: Just one good test can be misleading. The Ford F150 did well in the headon crash tests and received 5 stars, the top rating. But it performed poorly - at the bottom of the lot - in the offset crash test shown at left. Tools to make better vehicles: In the Virtual Reality Center designers can watch lifesize crashes and improve the structure. Powered by SGI and NEC SX-5 clusters. sgi: Dream Factory: At the Virtual Reality Design Center, Seeing is Believing

NEW RAM TOUGH

Mercedes New C-Class full width frontal crash test quicktime
Mercedes New C-Class 40 MPH offset crash test quicktime
Mercedes New C-Class under water test quicktime
uploaded by Drew to Ken's site.

Special Report, Crushed Roofs: Feds, Big Three grid for showdown
detnews, April 13, 2004

S-Class (W220) vs Smart offset crash video 25.4 MB, avi
Here's a translation of the German in the movie: "We have a mass ratio of about 1 to over 2 and for the Smart this is already a very heavy collision. It corresponds to a velocity of far over 70 km/h. This is already very fast and very hard. - The Smart only fell over after, after the potentially dangerous events. That it came to a rest on its side may of course make it more difficult to rescue potentially injured passengers."
The crash test was performed by Auto, Motor und Sport.

Safety in the Air: The 20th Anniversary of the Airbag The 1981 Mercedes S-Class (W126) world premiered the airbag. It was codeveloped and supplied by Petri and the controller by Bosch. The W126 was also the first vehicle constructed to specifially withstand offset crashes - employing a forked front end structure, which redirects and distributes the energy over the front of the passenger safety cage. A customer's 1980 500SEL, one of the first 10 cars with airbag, on the driver's side, was crash tested with about 400,000 km on the clock, in 1992, when the millionth airbag came off the line. The bag performed to specs, ..and yes, the owner did receive a replacement.

Crash test dummy
Edward R. Dye at Cornell Aeronautical Labs pioneered the crash test dummy more than 50 years ago. Samuel W. Alderson developed the first dummy in 1948 to test airplanes ejection seats. First dummies for automotive testing followed in 1950.
history of crash test dummies

Mercedes-Benz Automatic Child Seat Recognition (ACSR)
All MB starting with model year 1999 have automatic child seat recognition which switches the front passenger air bag off when a correctly installed BabySmart seat is installed. The seat transmitts RF, the child seat responds, and the seat then receives the phase shifted signal. The air bag off light on the dash illuminates. Three sizes are available: BabySmart compatible infant, toddler or booster seat. According to research by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt child seats provide no safety benefit for children over 2 years old, compared to seat belts.
www.seatcheck.org

Insurance Statistics
injury, collision, theft losses. Some injury loss rates excerpted:

model year	89-91	95-97	96-98	97-99	98-00	99-01	00-02	01-03	02-04
SL convertible	-	46	43	58	56	49	47	34	47
S-Class LWB sedan	53	42	45	55	46	45	51	55	67
E-Class AWD	-	-	-	-	47	44	51	-	-
SLK mini sports car	-	-	-	54	52	49	62	67	72
M-Class SUV 4WD	-	-	66	55	59	64	70	75	83
E-Class sedan	69	67	70	72	69	67	71	67	77
CLK convertible	-	-	-	-	54	48	45	61	-
CLK coupe	-	-	-	78	75	73	73	-	84
C-Class sedan	84	101	111	99	96	78	80	82	103
some small 2DR car	212	164	202	216	226	224	204	156	181
some small 4DR car	179	218	228	240	247	272	239	196	237

Mercedes M-Class and E-Class among 15 safest cars in the USA, 7 SUVs listed
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety completed their latest study on driver death rates on April 19, 2007 for more than 200 different model year 2001 to 2004 vehicles, experienced in 2002 to 2005. Two Mercedes-Benz models are listed among the exclusive top 15 safest vehicles, the M-Class and the E-Class, both with only 14 fatalities per million registered vehicles. The average of all vehicles studied was 79 fatalities per million vehicles. The M-Class was included for the first time and it's noteworthy that its rollover fatality rate is given as 0, confirming the effectiveness of Mercedes safety technology and in particular of ESP. Overall the IIHS significantly increased the number of SUVs on their safest vehicles list. The S-Class improved to 21 and the C-Class to a solid 24.

Pontiac wheel comes off in front of M-Class
Rich Albert

Bovine encounter causes roll which ESP might have prevented
by Bill Rule

Nissan Frontier stuck on the beach
scan thanks to Victor Urbach

M-Class vs Toyota Corolla

State of Emergency After 29-Vehicle Pileup

The Lizzie Grubman assault-by-SUV SAGA

HUMMV Accident
Thanks to Phil Congdon who mailed this crash picture and made some comments that no matter which vehicle, it still requires driver skill. He feels the ML is one of the best.

Bloomberg: SUV Was Going 91 Miles Per Hour Before Crash

Big Dig doomed by epoxy creep

It's a long way down: 4x4 rolls off Moab's Lion's back
link thanks to Kuan. That's a 91 Toyota 4-runner plunging 60 ft off the rock, injuring three occupants. The article and pictures appeared in the Moabtimes in 2002 but has since been taken offline, or access been restricted.

Deaths on US Roads Reported at a Record Low
Traffic fatalities hit a new low in 1999 with 1.5 fatalities for every 100 million miles of travel. It's the lowest rate since NHTSA began keeping records 30 years ago. About 60% of occupants killed in crashes did not wear seat belts. The California rate is even lower with 1.2 per 100 million vehicle miles travelled. This new record low was achieved although speed limits were raised on many Californian highways five years ago. But the total number of traffic deaths remained about constant in the last five years (see table below). It increased to 42815 in 2002 setting a 12 year high. Of that 17970 were drinking related, 10666 rollover crashes, 4776 pedestrians and 3276 were motorcycle related deaths. It set a record low of 1.51 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles travelled and was 14.85 fatalities per 100,000 population. The fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled dropped to a new historic low in the USA, of 1.48 in 2003.

Seat belts	percentage of killed occupants not using seatbelts	fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles travelled
California	40.7	1.2
Maryland	45.8	1.2
Illinois	50.7	1.4
Texas	54.7	1.7
OVERALL	59.0	1.5
Massachusetts	60.8	0.8
Wisconsin	61.5	1.3
Florida	62.4	2.1
Alabama	65.3	2.0
Mississippi	74.3	2.7
Montana	74.9	2.2

S-Class active belt tensioner M-Class active belt retractor

Seat belts Following a reader suggestion in an automotive magazine in the 1930s, Daimler-Benz installed seat belts, originally used in airplanes, starting in 1957. In 1973 the three point automatic belt went into series production. The belt tensioner was introduced in 1981 and the belt force limiter in 1995. The '03 E-class debuts adaptive force limiters on the front seats. The belts were from Takata Petri or Klippan. Award for Mercedes safety expert Dr. Rodolfo Schöneburg The NHTSA, the US transport safety authority, has awarded the U.S. Government Award for Safety Engineering Excellence to Dr. Rodolfo Schöneburg, Head of Passenger Car Safety Development at Mercedes-Benz. This award marks the US government's recognition of the outstanding contribution which this Mercedes engineer has made to the field of automotive safety. He has been Head of the Mercedes-Benz Safety/Vehicle Functions section since April 1999. It was under his direction that the series-production debut of the PRE-SAFE® anticipatory occupant protection system in 2002 marked the start of a new era of vehicle safety at Mercedes-Benz. The system can identify hazardous situations at an early stage and take precautionary measures to prepare the vehicle occupants for a potential accident. June 19, 2007 Mercedes with Pre-Safe 2003+ S-Class, standard 2006+ ML, R, Europe, optional 2007+ CL, E-Class, standard 2007+ GL-Class, Europe, optional

NECK-PRO crash responsive head restraint was introduced with the new M-Class. In the case of a rear end collision, the headrest moves forward and upward to restrict the rearward motion of the head thus reducing neck bending and whiplash. Triggered electrically it takes only 20 milliseconds to deploy fully. The IIHS tested the M-Class and confirmed the effectiveness of the system, honoring the 2007 Mercedes-Benz M-Class with their Top Safety Pick. The photo was provided by the supplier. IIHS M-Class results

Record low traffic deaths Fatalities dropped even further in Germany and it was credited to seat belts, air bags, ESP and roadside accident assistance. The linked table lists statistics from the NHTSA, Statistisches Bundesamt and National Police Agency in Japan. Mercedes-Benz Seat Belts and Airbags - 9/12/2004 Brochure describing the safety protection provided by selt belts, air bags, Emergency Tensioning Devices (ETDs), and Occupant Classification System (OCS). Guidelines for Rescue Services - First Edition - October 2005 Brochure with guidelines for first responder and for rescue services pertaining to Mercedes-Benz automobiles. Mercedes-Benz M-Class First Aid Kit M-Class Owner Feedback Contact the factory in case you find a problem with your Mercedes-Benz 4X4.

created in 1998 and updated from time to time

The only SUVs that are built, and destroyed, like a Mercedes-Benz.

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