The majority of accidents start long before the actual collision: with a lapse in concentration, poor visibility or hazards which cannot be anticipated. That's why the Mercedes-Benz safety concept employs a range of measures to support safe driving in everyday operation and to help you bring critical situations under control.

We prioritise safety in our vehicles – beginning with the standard equipment. Proven systems support you in complicated situations that you can be faced with daily in road traffic.

The braking system increases driving comfort and safety. On the one hand it helps to perform critical braking manoeuvres with the basic function of the ABS anti-lock braking system while convenience functions make coping with daily driving situations easier on the other.

By priming the brakes the brake linings are already brought close to the discs should the driver takes his foot abruptly off the accelerator. The valuable time won as a result shortens the brakes' response time and can thus reduce the stopping distance.

The system also intervenes to support the driver on uphill gradients, thereby helping to make the journey more relaxed. The Hill-Start Assist function prevents the vehicle from rolling back when moving from the brake to the accelerator pedal The HOLD function can keep the vehicle stationary without having to maintain constant pressure on the brake pedal.

And finally, the brake drying function provides a further boost to safety: In the wet it carries out brief braking impulses, imperceptible to the driver. This enables the water film which has built up on the brake discs to be eliminated which significantly reduces the response time of the brakes.

The flashing brake lights can help in an emergency situation to significantly shorten the reaction time of road users following behind. The LED adaptive brake lights thus make an important contribution to preventing rear-end collisions.

Parking and exiting a space made easy: Active Parking Assist makes finding a parking space as well as parking in both parallel and transversal spaces easier; it also assists when leaving a parallel parking space. It automatically steers the vehicle into parking spaces and spares the driver the steering and braking actions.

If the vehicle travels slower than 30 km/h, the system indicates with a "P" symbol and a directional arrow in the multifunction display of the instrument cluster that it has located a suitable parking space. By default the system looks on the right side of the road, when the left-side turn indicator is activated also on the left side of the road.

If the driver changes into reverse gear, confirms the parking selection shown and drives no faster than 10 km/h, the active Parking Assist system carries out the steering manoeuvre on its own. The driver only needs to operate the accelerator and brake pedal; parking is complete in a maximum of seven moves.

The electronic parking aid PARKTRONIC monitors the front and rear of the vehicle during manoeuvring and warns the driver when it detects a potential collision. It is active at a speed of up to 18 km/h.

On long journeys or night journeys in which the driver does not take a break, the risk of falling prey to microsleep is increased. The ATTENTION ASSIST system can recognise signs of over-tiredness or inattention in the driver at an early stage and encourage the driver to take a break.

ATTENTION ASSIST monitors the driver behaviour and steering movements. If certain patterns of behaviour that correspond to increasing tiredness are registered, this can be flashed up in the multifunction display of the instrument cluster by means of a large coffee cup image as well as audible signals.

In critical handling situations the ESP® Electronic Stability Program can keep the vehicle from skidding with targeted brake actuations on individual wheels. The system contributes to significantly reducing lateral offset in strong gusty crosswind conditions.

The ESP®-based system provides more stability and handling safety in particular when accelerating on bends. If the ESP® sensors register a tendency to understeer, it can reduce this tendency with a targeted brake intervention on the inside wheels.

Depending on the ambient light Headlamp Assist automatically switches the dipped-beam on or off. In particular under rapidly changing light conditions the system can enhance driving safety and relieve the burden on the driver, e.g. when driving into a tunnel or a multi-storey car park.

Watch how your vehicle also watches. And responds: Different light and driving conditions make different demands on vehicle lighting.

The LED Intelligent Light system automatically adapts to the lighting and driving conditions when turning or cornering. Apart from its distinctive appearance, the LED technology impresses with high light intensity.

The LED Intelligent Light System headlamps are closer on the light spectrum to natural daylight than, for example, xenon headlamps. As a result, they place less strain on the driver's eyes and provide greater driver-fitness safety.

By using LED technology throughout, there will be no need to change bulbs for the vehicle's entire service life.

Reverse parking and manoeuvring is considerably easier and safer using the rear-view camera. Protected by a flap, it automatically extends when reverse gear is engaged and shows the driver the surroundings behind the vehicle with dynamic guidelines on the media display.

They show the vehicle's width and track as well as various distances from the vehicle's rear end dependent on the steering angle. When reversing out of a parking space, for instance from a driveway, switching to wide-angle mode allows a viewing angle of 180 degrees to help detect approaching vehicles or pedestrians sooner.

In combination with a trailer coupling, the system provides an additional function that simplifies the approach/coupling of a trailer using special guidance lines and a zoom mode.

In order to prevent dirt getting on the camera lens, it is protected by a flap beneath the Mercedes star. This flap opens when reverse gear is engaged and closes once a certain speed has been reached, after a set amount of time has passed or when the transmission is set to the ""P"" position. The flap can be opened to allow cleaning by selecting an option in the media display menu.

Mercedes-Benz stands for automotive safety. That's why our vehicles can support their passengers even in critical driving situations, so that every journey is as safe as it can possibly be.

Mastering critical situations even more effectively: To do this, Mercedes-Benz engineers further improved a system which had already been acclaimed for decades. The vehicle can be controlled even if the situation becomes highly critical.

In particular during emergency braking the anti-locking braking system (ABS) provides more driving safety by preventing the wheels from locking. This assists the driver in maintaining control of the vehicle, for instance during evasive manoeuvres or when braking on a slippery road.

Decades of experience in safety technology have gone into every Mercedes-Benz vehicle – making critical situations more and more unlikely. If despite this a critical situation should ever arise, this system will assist you with preventive and protective measures.

The system is able to identify critical handling situations in advance and initiate preventive measures for occupant protection in the event of an impending accident. These include e.g. the reversible belt tensioning or the automatic closing of any open windows.

The PRE-SAFE® system combines passive and active features. Seat belts and airbags can protect vehicle occupants more effectively if they incorporate active systems such as driving assistance packages or Brake Assist.

PRE-SAFE® continuously evaluates sensor data from other systems, such as the Electronic Stability Program ESP® and Brake Assist system BAS, and can identify scenarios such as heavy over/understeer and emergency braking.

Cars from Mercedes-Benz have a large number of safety systems to prevent accidents. Should the worst come to the worst, however, protective measures can come into play. These include measures to protect both the vehicle occupants and other road users.

Our vehicles offer a wealth of safety technology. Some of which you'll never get to see. And this is as it should be - for these systems are only there for worst-case scenarios. To protect yourself and your passengers.

In a frontal collision the airbags can help to protect the torso and head of the driver and front passenger. They also help to stabilise the whole body. This can mitigate the risk of severe injuries in an accident. The deployment of the airbags is commensurate to the severity of the impact.

The front passenger airbag additionally has a pyrotechnically activated adaptivity stage. It enables the damping of the ""diving into air bag"" effect to be graduated by regulating the degree of gas venting: stronger or less intense, in accordance with the occupant's seating position.

In a severe frontal collision, the brake pedal can be moved forward automatically and locked in its braking position. This helps prevent the pedal assembly from protruding into the footwell.

Should a pedestrian collide with the front of the vehicle, the rear section of the engine bonnet can be raised. The increased distance to the engine compartment assemblies creates additional deformation space, which can reduce the risk of injury to the pedestrian in certain accident situations.

The driver's-side kneebag helps to protect the legs in a severe head-on collision and also stabilises the entire body. It can thus help mitigate the severity of injuries sustained in an accident.

In a severe side-on collision the window airbag covers the side windows and can help reduce the risk of the head impacting the sides of the vehicle or intruding objects. Regardless of the angle of collision this protects the driver, front passenger and passengers in the rear.

To reduce consequential damage after an accident and support the work of the rescue services, a number of different actions are initiated, depending on the type and severity of the impact registered by the system:

• Best possible protection: the engine can be turned off automatically and the fuel supply can be cut off.
  Eye-catching lighting: hazard and emergency interior lights can activate automatically to lower the risk of accidents and help locate the car.
  
• Automatic ventilation: if an airbag is deployed, the power windows are lowered automatically if the on-board electrical system is still operational.
  
• Easy opening: After a serious accident, the doors can be unlocked automatically to make it easier for the occupants or rescue workers to open them.
  
• Measures to aid rescue: integral crash joints between the wing and the door can make opening the doors after a frontal collision easier.
  
• Helpful connection: In the event of an accident or breakdown, the Mercedes-Benz emergency call system can automatically establish contact with an emergency call centre.