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When a small car collides with a larger one, the smaller vehicle draws the short straw. This is confirmed by the latest ADAC crash test. With one exception: in this David-and-Goliath clash the smart fortwo was the only small car able to prevent life-threatening injuries to the driver from severe trauma to the chest.The standard EuroNCAP crash test simulates a frontal collision with a vehicle of the same weight. In contrast, for the first time the ADAC had four smaller models crash into a barrier vehicle equivalent to a lower-end mid-sized car. Further, in this first compatibility crash test the unequally matched parties to the accident collided with an offset of 50 percent. This is because, according to the ADAC, in an accident it is usually vehicles of different weights that collide, usually with a degree of lateral offset.
The horrifying outcome of the crash test is that life-threatening injuries in the chest region are commonplace in smaller vehicles. Only the smart fortwo protected its driver from such injuries – despite being the smallest and lightest vehicle in the test.
According to the ADAC, the reasons for the alarming test results lie partly in the fact that the short crumple zone of smaller vehicles cannot absorb sufficient energy and the forces unleashed during an accident are often not conducted to the corresponding energy-absorbing components.
The smart fortwo owes its good crash test result to an innovative construction based on examinations of actual accident scenarios conducted by Mercedes-Benz Cars as opposed to focusing solely on the requirements of EU and American laws. Collisions with other vehicles in different constellations were therefore also taken into account during the development phase of the smart fortwo. Because the constructional crash-safety provisions and restraint systems of all vehicles of Mercedes-Benz Cars satisfy such strict, internal standards that in part go way beyond the statutory requirements, they have also proved themselves in everyday practice. The same goes for the smart fortwo.
The safety concept of the smart fortwo is as follows:
- The tridion safety cell protects its occupants like the hard shell around a nut. Its structure is additionally reinforced with high-strength and ultra-high-strength steel at strategically important points (more than 50 percent).
- The tridion safety cell’s longitudinal and transverse members activate the crumple zone of the other vehicle involved in the accident and distribute the impact energy evenly over the car’s body.
- And in case of a collision, the wheels also take on the function of crumple zones. When this happens, the front wheels are supported by the side members.
- The rear-mounted engine enables a larger crumple zone at the front and acts as a shock-absorbing unit that absorbs the impact energy in a rebound.
- Thanks to the sandwich-type construction of the tridion safety cell, the passengers are usually somewhat above the direct danger zone in the event of a side impact. Further, in the case of a side impact, the other vehicle almost always hits an axle that can absorb impact energy due to the relatively short wheelbase.
- All interior trims have been optimised to prevent injuries to occupants. And the soft foam-backed lower instrument panel (knee pad) offers protection for the passengers' knees and lower legs.
- The door structure is reinforced by high-strength sheet metal at
key points.
- Other standard safety features in the smart fortwo are ESP with ABS and brake assist (BAS), wide track width, seat belts with belt tensioner and belt-force limiter, safety seats with integral seat belts, airbags.
However, it is not only the smart fortwo driver who benefits: due to its low weight it has little impact on the other vehicle involved in the accident and causes a minimum of damage.
The result of the latest ADAC crash test was summed up by the popular German newspaper “Bild”: “Only the smart is truly smart.”
More and more buyers agree with this opinion. More than 1.4 million smart fortwos have been delivered to customers since the first model was launched in 1998. 101,996 smart fortwos were handed over to customers worldwide in 2011 – 4.6 percent more than in the previous year. What they like about this trendsetter of individual urban mobility is above all its high fun factor, its high ecological standards and the compact dimensions of the two-seater that is peerless in terms of how little road and parking space it takes up. However, its sophisticated safety strategy is also persuasive, as the latest ADAC crash test underlines.Credits: Daimler AGCopyright © 2012, mercedesgla. All rights reserved.
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Avoid accidents and reduce the consequences of accidents – this is the integrated approach adopted by Mercedes-Benz Accident Research under the heading "Real Life Safety". Mercedes-Benz is pursuing this strategy systematically with the new, radar-based COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST system which is standard in all models in the new compact class. The company hopes that this will have a similarly positive effect on the incidence of accidents and their severity as other innovative safety features from the brand, such as ESP®, BAS or DISTRONIC.Unlike other systems in compact-class vehicles already on the market, COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST is not intended exclusively to minimise minor accident damage in an urban driving context. Instead, this solution aims to provide protection against typical rear-end collisions in hazardous driving situations at speeds above 30 km/h.
Field tests carried out by Mercedes-Benz in Europe, the US, Japan and South Africa over a total distance of more than 4.5 million kilometres since 2005 confirm that the most critical rear-end collision scenarios arise at speeds above 30 km/h. The speed profile of the tests conducted by Mercedes-Benz closely follows the real-world accident data from GIDAS (German In-Depth Accident Study), the largest project to record accident data in Germany.
Mercedes-Benz expects that COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST will have a significantly positive effect on real-world accidents comparable to that seen following the introduction of ESP® as standard. Test results reinforce this view: tests involving 110 car drivers in the dynamic simulator saw the accident rate fall from 44 to 11 percent in three typical situations thanks to the combination of collision warning and adaptive braking assistance.
Accident statistics confirm the potential of driving assistance systems
Driving assistance systems make an important contribution to road safety. This is the result of analyses conducted by Mercedes-Benz Accident Research and investigations carried out by the insurance industry as well as independent bodies. A number of success stories can already be reported:
- ESP®: following the introduction of ESP® as standard by Mercedes-Benz, the number of driver-related accidents involving the brand's vehicles in Germany fell by 42% (source: evaluation by Mercedes-Benz of the anonymised accident statistics of the Federal Statistical Office). Over 40% of all road traffic fatalities and 20% of those injured on the roads are victims of driver-related accidents.
- Brake Assist (BAS): the accident rate for rear-end collisions involving Mercedes passenger cars fell by 8% following the introduction of BAS as standard (source: evaluation by Mercedes-Benz of the anonymised 50% random sample of the 1998-2003 accident statistics of the Federal Statistical Office).
- Mercedes-Benz passenger cars equipped with DISTRONIC PLUS are involved in 7% fewer accidents and the material damage they suffer in accidents is 14% lower (source: IIHS Insurance Institute for Highway Safety).
- DISTRONIC PLUS and BAS PLUS are capable of reducing the incidence of rear-end collisions by at least 20% and they can reduce the accident severity in 25% of rear-end collisions according to a statistically significant forecast. These figures are based on a study in which the effectiveness of the systems was assessed by retrospectively simulating real-world accident data with known driver behaviours (source: GIDAS German In-Depth Accident Study). Both systems are available for many Mercedes-Benz model series.
- The combination of DISTRONIC PLUS, BAS PLUS and PRE-SAFE® Brake, which is also available for various Mercedes-Benz model series, is accompanied by a significant reduction in frontal collisions. This was shown by an analysis of replacement part orders for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class in the years 2005 to 2008. The analysis identified the difference in order levels for replacement parts for the front section of vehicles with and without DISTRONIC PLUS.Credits: Daimler AGCopyright © 2012, mercedesgla. All rights reserved.
