Mercedes-Benz Aims To End Car Accidents By 2050
Mercedes-Benz is further shifting its gears towards safety, as the brand claims they want to stop accidents involving its vehicles by 2050. This is undoubtedly an ambitious feat, and they’ll have ways to go before this happens. In any case, the automaker announced last week that it aims to succeed in this goal, dubbing its mission “Vision Zero” and saying it wants zero traffic deaths by the end of this century’s halfway point. The luxury brand also strives to lessen the number of people killed or seriously injured in car accidents, cutting it in half by 2030.
So precisely does Mercedes-Benz plan to execute its efforts in lessening and eventually ceasing car accidents? According to Paul Dick, head of vehicle safety at the company, “highly automated and autonomous driving will be a decisive contributor, ” in a press release. While there are various factors at play than simply the safety features of a vehicle, the company acknowledges the importance of infrastructure, as federal governments and world organizations, along with urban planners and local road commissions, will all have to work in tandem.
A Brief History of Safety
When people think of the Mercedes-Benz brand, they likely won’t associate it with safety as much as they would with others like Volvo. However, just because its safety capabilities haven’t been as well known doesn’t mean that one should dismiss it. This company has been a pioneer in groundbreaking active and passive safety systems in its vehicles for several years. In 1997, after a failed “moose test,” Mercedes-Benz started gearing all its models with standard electronic stability control, expanding across the industry. By the early 2000s, the automaker brought forth a highly anticipated system called Pre-Safe, which led to a feature that helped lessen personal injury during a crash.
Mercedes-Benz has also had an eventful past of using advanced brake control systems. These landmarks included the enactment of anti-lock brakes in 1978 and traction control in 1985. The brand also registered a brake-assist feature in ’96, which could automatically detect an emergency and provide maximum braking power. A couple of years after this, Mercedes-Benz introduced adaptive cruise control called Distronic. The automaker’s models then began adding automated emergency braking in 2009. There are plans to release new central software in 2023 to enrich its control system’s responsiveness further.
A Long But Promising Accident-Free Future
By 2025, Mercedes-Benz aims to have a future free of accidents, but it has plenty of work left to do. However, there are a few things that are already in the works.
For starters, the car manufacturer says that it has been assessing real-world accidents since 1969 and will continue these efforts. In doing so, they can better understand the framework of crashes and how they could’ve been prevented. Even more recently, Mercedes-Benz has been investigating vehicle data to help point out potential risk factors and alert drivers of hazards before approaching them.
The journey to a future without accidents is sustainably long. Still, Mercedes-Benz has shown dedication to progressive safety technologies and appears committed to its goal, which technically began decades ago. We’ll just have to wait and see.
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