Mercedes ESF S400 Hybrid Concept 2009

The company Mercedes-Benz has announced Experimental Safety Vehicle – the second generation system to prevent accidents and minimize their impact. The system is called the Mercedes ESF 2009. According to Car magazine, the official debut of this complex technology of active and passive safety will be held next week.

Meanwhile, British journalists managed to find out a few new key features of Mercedes-Benz. First important feature is the side body panels, which can change their shapes before the accident. If the Experimental Safety Vehicle system detects an unavoidable collision, the doors are blown under the pressure of a special gas and serve as additional protection beams.

The second new feature is a system that allows to shift the front passenger seat to the center of the machine in case of side impact. In order to protect passengers from the contact between them, the vertical airbag can inflate between them.

Another new system developed is the inflatable seat belts for rear passengers, which will reduce the severity of chest injuries in the collision strengths. In addition, in the future Mercedes cars are planned to be equipped with the system that will recognize the inevitable attack from behind and that will slow-down the car so that it does not get off the road and does not hit other cars.

Finally, the German engineers have developed an external airbag, which is located in the vicinity of the front wheels of the car is made of friction material. During an emergency braking, the airbag inflates and serves as an additional brake.

The debut dates of all these systems on serial Mercedes-Benz cars are not announced. However, some of them – such as inflatable safety belts or the rear-end impact determination system – could be in mass production within two to three years.