Real-Life Safety: From accident research to product innovation.

Our mission is real-life safety. For 55 years we have been conducting systematic accident research with the aim of building vehicles that perform convincingly not only in defined crash test scenarios, but also in real-life road accidents. To this end, our Mercedes-Benz Accident Research experts analyse road traffic accidents worldwide and examine various Mercedes-Benz cars and vans that have been involved in road accidents. The findings form the basis for innovations that will help us to come closer to our goal of accident-free driving. More than 80 years ago, we were the first automotive manufacturer to set up our own safety development department. In 1959, we carried out the world's first crash test. Nowadays, the Mercedes-Benz Technology Centre for Vehicle Safety (TFS) in Sindelfingen constantly conducts new series of tests and analyses data. Our vision is to ensure that nobody is harmed in a road accident in the future anymore.

Every road accident is one too many. But every accident also offers an opportunity to learn for the future. Our experts have been analysing real-life accidents involving Mercedes-Benz vehicles since 1969. They take photos for precise accident reconstruction, document the damage in detail and record the accident site with drones. To date, over 5,000 real-life accidents have been investigated in this way and more than 1,000 data points are collected for each accident. This data enables us to reconstruct what happened in a computer program and identify improvement potentials. Accident research forms the basis of our development work. For example, the PRE-SAFE® system was developed to prepare a vehicle and its occupants for the possibility of an accident. Another example is the exit warning function of the Active Blind Spot Assist, which primarily protects cyclists from serious injuries. We analyse accidents in detail in order to understand how they occur – and to prevent them in future. Because we are committed to Vision Zero, the EU's goal of halving the number of road deaths by 2030 and reducing them to zero by 2050.

We are aware that we can only achieve our goal of accident-free driving together with other stakeholders, such as legislators, the German Technical Inspection Authority (TÜV) and urban planners. That's why we use the Mercedes-Benz Road Safety Dashboard to share our data with urban planners in cities like London, for example. This digital tool shows where emergency braking frequently occurs so inner-city danger spots can be defused before accidents even occur. Our accident research data also gives us valuable arguments for our road safety initiatives, through which we aim to protect children and other vulnerable groups in particular.