At the same time, he explains, "the seat cushions of the front passenger and rear seats will automatically tilt to the rear, while the door panels will move into the car's interior and mold themselves around the occupants' hips like protective shields."
This is possible, Schoneburg explains, because in roughly 60 per cent of the more than 1,000 crashes Mercedes investigated in Germany, "the vehicles involved were in a dynamic state that indicated an impending impact."
Thanks to the sophistication of today's sensors and a growing data pool, Schoneburg says, modern cars are able to predict a crash with a "high degree of probability."
He says that, on the basis of these sensor data, a powerful onboard computer prepares the vehicle components and vehicle structure for an impending crash.
"This involves, for example, extending the bumpers and activating the crash boxes in the front-end structure," Schoneburg says. "Depending on accident severity, these systems would generate forces suitable to absorb a large proportion of the impact energy before it can act on the vehicle occupants."
In the event of an impending side impact with a higher vehicle, he says, the computer would engage the Active Body Control system (currently used on the Mercedes-Benz CL-Class coupes and certain S-Class sedans) to raise the vehicle body and "enhance its crash compatibility with the colliding vehicle."