Accident protection in a Mercedes vs. other makes? legit? - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Pete Geither · #16 10-31-2006, 05:40 PM

A few? years back Mercedes had an ad in the WSJ that detailed everything that happened in a Benz when it was in a bad accident. It was truly an amazing read, but I neglected to save it. I sure wish I could find that today.

engatwork · #17 10-31-2006, 05:51 PM

here you go

dynalow · #18 10-31-2006, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ocean View

Your asking in a Mercedes Forum.
I think you will get somewhat biased opinions.

Hmmm. You are probably correct.
And many of us have our own real life experiences to support our faith in MB's crash survival capabilitites.

But I think Trevor Reese-Jones might have an "unbiased" opinion. And he might have a good thing or two to say about the benefits of wearing seat belts!

Correct me if I am mistaken, but wasn't he the only one wearing a seatbelt that night? We know he was the only survivor?

Pete Geither · #19 10-31-2006, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by engatwork

here you go

IN THE NEWSPAPER,,,,, Eng. You gave me hope for a moment.

anthonyb · #20 11-01-2006, 03:13 AM

This is interesting - coincidentally *I* almost rear-ended a car last night in my 300E.

I was doing about 60 mph down a four lane surface street, and I must've been daydreaming or something, and didn't realize traffic was slowing in front of me. All of a sudden I snapped out of it and saw that the cars in front of me were stopped and that I was stupidly close to the nearest one.

I stomped on the brakes, HARD, and instantly the ABS kicked in while I heard the tires starting to squeal on the pavement. About a second or two went by and I realized that I wasn't going to stop in time, so I cranked the wheel hard to the left to get to the shoulder. Actually, there wasn't really a shoulder, but luckily there was a gravel median, and I ended up pulling all the way off the road into the median. Ended up stopping about a car length in front of the closest car.

I don't know how long it took, but it seemed like only about 4 or 5 seconds, with the ABS on the whole time. My first thought was that I couldn't believe I didn't see traffic slowing (I guess we all think we're pretty decent drivers), but my second thought was wow, this car saved my ass.

It's a 20 year old car, the suspension, steering and brakes are all just a little bit tired, and yet it stayed perfectly composed, both when I was braking hard, then when I did an emergency lane change, and finally bringing me to a stop on gravel. Never fishtailed or skidded (lucky it wasn't raining), or got unsettled in any way.

Drive safe(r than I did),
Anthony

Unleashed · #21 11-01-2006, 03:18 AM

My grandad was driving my dads 73 230S when a truck shot a red light. It was carrying sewer pipes at the time, so you can imagine the weight. My grandad went under the rear axle, completely taking it out and forcing the truck to drop on top of him - he walked away with cuts and bruises.
Since then my family has always sworn by the three pointed star.

t walgamuth · #22 11-01-2006, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anthonyb

This is interesting - coincidentally *I* almost rear-ended a car last night in my 300E.

I was doing about 60 mph down a four lane surface street, and I must've been daydreaming or something, and didn't realize traffic was slowing in front of me. All of a sudden I snapped out of it and saw that the cars in front of me were stopped and that I was stupidly close to the nearest one.

I stomped on the brakes, HARD, and instantly the ABS kicked in while I heard the tires starting to squeal on the pavement. About a second or two went by and I realized that I wasn't going to stop in time, so I cranked the wheel hard to the left to get to the shoulder. Actually, there wasn't really a shoulder, but luckily there was a gravel median, and I ended up pulling all the way off the road into the median. Ended up stopping about a car length in front of the closest car.

I don't know how long it took, but it seemed like only about 4 or 5 seconds, with the ABS on the whole time. My first thought was that I couldn't believe I didn't see traffic slowing (I guess we all think we're pretty decent drivers), but my second thought was wow, this car saved my ass.

It's a 20 year old car, the suspension, steering and brakes are all just a little bit tired, and yet it stayed perfectly composed, both when I was braking hard, then when I did an emergency lane change, and finally bringing me to a stop on gravel. Never fishtailed or skidded (lucky it wasn't raining), or got unsettled in any way.

Drive safe(r than I did),
Anthony

The accident avoidance part is perhaps the best. Although beemers handle as well or better, I doubt they are as crash worthy when you actually eat it.

And no matter how many folks say how excellent Lexus is I put my life in the hands or MB first.

Tom W

dannym · #23 11-01-2006, 08:14 AM

Mercedes has always been on the front line in safety.
They developed most of the safety features seen in cars today. I'm not sure if they developed ABS or air bags though I wouldn't be supprised if they did. They did develop crumple zones, crossover seatbelts, head rests. The list goes on but I can't remember all of them right now.

The thing that really impresses me is Mercedes refused to patent any of their developments saying "Safety is more important than money". Gotta give them credit for that.

Danny

hookedon210s · #24 11-01-2006, 07:26 PM

In 1978 I was driving my 1965 300SE down a rain-slicked city street at way too fast a rate. When I hit the brakes (4 wheel discs) to stop I couldn't quite catch the clockwise rotation and hit a telephone pole at 40+ mph just in front of the driver's door. I walked away uninjured and was able to repair the car without incident.
In 1996 I was sitting at a stop light in my 1983 300TD and got rear-ended by a full sized Buick going 40-45 mph or so (incredibly it was the 17 year old driver's 5th at fault accident). The impact was so great that it bent my backrest but I was only slightly injured (lower back-thankfully I had adjusted the headrest the week before to support my neck properly). $6000K to repair that "accident".
In 1999 (same car) I was driving my wife and a client home from dinner when a vehicle ran a red light (my view of the vehicle was blocked by a building) and we got t-boned by a Mazda 929 dead on in my door and B pillar at 45-50mph. Fortunately, I saw the vehicle at the last second and tried to turn in the direction of her travel to minimize the impact. The door was deflected 13" and my seat was 3" narrower (the door panel intruded into my chest). I broke 2 ribs and injured my upper back. The police investigating the accident said I was very lucky to have been in a Mercedes for the severity of the impact or I would have been toast. My client (front passenger seat) was uninjured and my wife (right rear) had a knee injury from hitting the door panel during the spin. Although I drove the car home after the impact this car was obviously finally totaled (the roof had a crease in it from the impact).
Would another brand of vehicle have performed as well? Maybe. But I feel that I am very fortunate to have been in my Mercedes and have continued to drive them since. One other point, prior to the last 2 accidents I had somewhat smugly thought that good drivers could avoid almost all accidents. I know better now. Mark

MS Fowler · #25 11-02-2006, 07:54 AM

[QUOTE=hooke One other point, prior to the last 2 accidents I had somewhat smugly thought that good drivers could avoid almost all accidents. I know better now. Mark[/QUOTE]

The point about good drivers avoiding accidents is true----IF the good driver is in the other car. ( Then they wouldn't be excessively sppeding, running red lights, hitting stopped cars, etc.) The fact is that most accidents are due to driver error. You may be a great driver, defensive and safety conscious, but if the other driver is a non attentive idiot, they just might hit you.
Being in a MB does offer some protection against the stupid drivers out there.

Oh, BTW, you do realise that half the drivers are below average. ( Now THERE's a tag line for a car commercial---"Drive a ______ because half the drivers are below average, and you need protection from them) Send royalties to me....

teralab · #26 11-06-2006, 12:06 PM

I've been reading all the posts about MB safety and I just had to share our experience so far with MB. About 6 months ago my daughter was driving our 83 240D at night at about 45 mph (she says)on slick roads when she hydroplaned. The car turned around backwards and continued sliding. She then dropped off the side of the road which had a very steep embankment and the car began to roll over. Just as the car rolled onto it's drivers side door it was impacted by a telephone pole which struck the car on the roof. The pole crushed the roof in on her and bent the driver side door as you can see in the photo. She was trapped for 2 hours while the paramedics and firemen tried to get her out. Take a look at the pic.

Her injuries?

She suffered a small fracture in her wrist and thats it.

That 240D saved her life.

All we could talk about for weeks afterwards was that if she had been in any other car she probably would have suffered debilitating injuries if she survived at all.
So now, we are committed to replacing the cars our kids drive with 80s era MBs.

Hatterasguy · #27 11-06-2006, 10:05 PM

OMG!

I'm glad she was ok! That must have been some massive force(speed) to crumple the roof like that!

t walgamuth · #28 11-06-2006, 11:03 PM

hard to believe she survived unscathed.

but in most other cars the approximate location of the pole would have been against the floor board and she would have been a pancake.

hmmmm i note the black aluminum wheels..... i want them.

tom w