Next S-Class will be world's safest, says Benz

Mercedes-Benz is convinced the new W222 S-Class saloon will reset the automotive safety benchmark when it goes on sale around mid-2013.

However, it also acknowledges the big gains it makes relate more to software than hardware, unlike its predecessors that introduced anti-lock brakes, the airbag and electronic stability control.

At a ‘TecDay’ at its Sindelfingen safety engineering centre in Stuttgart last week, Benz deep dived into what it called ‘Intelligent Drive’, which hooks up the S-class’ 26 sensors – including a new stereo camera - into a ‘360 degree’ system designed to protect the car, its occupants and other road users before, during and after accidents.

Asked if the new S-Class was the world’s safest car, active safety test chief Jochen Haab was unequivocal: “That’s what we propose. We believe if you put a line under it and add everything up then we believe that’s what we will be.

“Definitely, from the perspective of the number of situations we can deal with or the number of lives we can save and injuries we can reduce, that is our measuring device if you want, not how many systems do we sell in our options list.”

While unwilling to details just how many live Benz estimates the S-Class will save, he did highlight the benefits of the new Pre-Safe brake, which can detect pedestrians and initiate autonomous braking to avoid a collision at speeds up to 50km/h.

“We have benefits that go up to 50 per cent of all pedestrian accidents that can be avoided or dramatically reduced in their impact” he said. “It is a very conservative calculation we did. We are sure we can totally avoid six per cent and we are sure we can reduce 41 per cent.”

In the press material supplied at the TecDay, Benz also claimed the BAS Plus assistance system with Cross Traffic Assist (which detects crossing traffic and pedestrians and boosts the driver’s braking power) could either prevent or lessen 27 per cent of all accidents at road junctions resulting in personal injury. That equates to some 20,000 accidents in Germany alone each year.

Mr Haab said the next step for the S-Class would be car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure safety communications, which would be rolled out during the W222’s lifecycle, but not at launch.

“You could be in a car on a curvy road and get into a skid, and the car sends out a GPS signal, ‘hey it’s slippery’. Not the sign slippery when wet, it is slippery right now. That information is provided to whoever and then that information again is provided to your car and you can get information in your instrument or your navi.

“That will be I think the first step into car-to-car communication. The next step will be cars having transponders so one car knows where the other is, so if they crash they know beforehand how hard airbags have to come on.”

Mr Haab said Mercedes-Benz had a clear vision on the safety improvements that would be delivered over the next seven to 10 years, and he predicted the emphasis on software development would continue.

“It will be more and more software, what do you do with the information you have, and interlinking as much information at a very high frequency to make it react as fast as possible - that is the future.”

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site…