EARLY WARNING: PRECAUTIONARY PROTECTION AS FOUND IN NATURE
Accident analyses carried out by engineers in Sindelfingen show that in two thirds of all collisions, enough time elapses before the impact to activate protective systems. In roughly 60 percent of the more than 1000 reconstructed accidents the vehicles involved were in a dynamic state which indicated an impending impact. Dr. Schöneburg: "In critical situations like these, why should we wait until the crash actually happens?" Mother Nature is a perfect model for the PRE-SAFE concept, for every living being follows an inborn safety strategy. Take the domestic cat as an example: if a cat is obliged to jump from a great height to escape a pursuing enemy, it instinctively stretches its legs to their fullest extent in order to absorb the landing impact with maximum "suspension travel”. People also have precautionary reactions: if we see a snowball flying towards us we close our eyes as a reflex reaction. Both are optimal, situation-related precautions on the part of nature.
SENSORS: ACCIDENT SEVERITY IS ALREADY CALCULATED BEFORE THE COLLISION
The PRE-SAFE system with which future Mercedes models will be equipped relies on sensors that not only recognise a critical dynamic situation, but also provide data from which the computer is able to predict an accident with a high degree of probability. This enables the electronics to initiate suitable protective measures even before the crash. Mercedes-Benz takes a multi-stage approach with this sophisticated sensor system, which is divided into four sub-systems: