Those A-pillars bented down almost completely. I read all the time in various car descriptions of convertibles how the manufacturers design the A-pillars to serve as roll bars in case of a rollover. I personally never bought this nonsense. There is no way on earth a couple of A-pillars made up of folded sheetmetal are going to tolerate 1.5-2 tons of car plus any extra weight the car carries when it becomes airborn and slams down on the ground on those A-pillars. I do not care if it is an MB, a Volvo, a BMW or what have you. The only thing that helped in this case and (Kudos should go out to MB for using it) is the rear roll bar. I wish the driver of this car a quick recovery, but in my humble opinion she ows her life 40% to the passive safety of the MB and 60% to pure luck.