Safety for Dummies: Mercedes Responds to the Age of Anxiety

MONTVALE, NEW JERSEY-- Gruesome reports of runaway cars have prompted drivers to think more about safety. And that, Mercedes believes, plays straight into one of its strengths.

That was the message of a recent event for journalists in New Jersey, as the German car-maker showed off its most advanced safety technology. The safety simulator, which was realistic enough in its scenarios to make me queasy, incorporates features already in Benz cars, including lane departure warning (the steering wheel vibrates) and automatic braking when an obstacle is detected up to 200 feet ahead. I especially appreciated a feature that detects driver drowsiness (based on jerky steering inputs) and flashes a message (a coffee cup image) recommending a rest stop.

But the 2009 Experimental Safety Vehicle (ESF), an S400 Benz Hybrid, was the star for the day. It positively bristled with experimental safety systems that could make it into cars in the next few years. Among them:

· PRE-SAFE Structure: These are door beams that, to save space, exist in a collapsed state until there is an accident. Then an an internal gas generator inflates them in fractions of a second for more stability. · Braking Bags: You might think that automakers had run out of places to put airbags. You would be wrong. The ESF had airbags in the side of the seats; these are designed to nudge occupants into the best position to survive an accident. And how about one underneath the car to act as a parachute and slow the car down before impact?

· Belt Bag: The ESF had two child-sized dummies (fully dressed, right down to the sneakers) in the back seat. One was wearing a "belt bag," which automatically inflates in a collision. Since people, especially children, can be injured by seatbelts in accidents, the belt bag distributes the pressure over a wider area. It's also effective for older people with vulnerable ribcages. The dummy children sat in car seats (emblazoned with the Benz logo) that incorporate thick side bolsters to keep them in place. There is also a rear-mounted camera to keep watch. Sadly, there is no technology yet that curbs back-seat bickering.

· Interactive Vehicle Communications: The safety car's sensors can automatically communicate information to the appropriate authorities, such as police and rescue patrols, on poor weather conditions or obstacles. · Adaptive High Beam Headlights. When courteous drivers switch to low beams to avoid dazzling oncoming traffic, they can lose sight of other cars or hazards. These headlights keeps the LED high beams on all the time, automatically adjusting for oncoming traffic.

The German automaker is bidding to make safety a competitive advantage. "We've been safety pioneers for the better part of a century," said spokeswoman Donna Boland. She notes, for example, that the company incorporated the first crumple zone (body panels designed to absorb impact) 50 years ago, based on work company engineer Bela Barenyi began in 1939.

Of course, every auto company believes it is a safety pioneer, but in one regard, Mercedes does have an edge over much of the industry. In 2002, it had the foresight to install brake override systems that make it difficult for a car to continue racing ahead as its driver pushes the brakes. This technology would have saved Toyota a world of hurt; it is common in Germany, whose carmakers saw Audi's agony over sudden acceleration claims in the 1980s as a cautionary tale. BMW was the first automaker to go to an electronic throttle, in 1988, and German automakers (far more than their Japanese or American competition) soon coupled them to brake overrides.

There is no doubt that the ESF's features are, well, cool. But there is a possible downside here. Sophisticated safety systems like these are one reason that cars got so complicated. An "S" Class Mercedes has about 100 Electronic Control Units, and more than 10 million lines of computer code. Cars will be even more complex when all these fail-safe devices are on board. And that, of course, raises the specter of over-engineered cars that could be subject to electronic glitches we haven't even encountered yet.