Mercedes ESF 2019 to showcase future of safety

Mercedes Benz says it plans to show a safety vision concept later this year that will demonstrate the future safety technologies from the German manufacturer.

It will mark ten years since the last ESF vision concept debuted in 2009 and will see Mercedes-Benz showcase technologies that are both currently viable and also ones which may still be some time away.

The previous vehicle used for this demonstration was an S-Class, which suggests that will also be the case for this presentation scheduled for mid-year. Speaking to the media today, the member of the board and head of group R&D at Mercedes-Benz, Ola Kallenius, confirmed the company’s plans.

“We are going to show a demonstrator vision car later this year, with how we envision safety technology is going to go in the next couple of years, even though we are at a very high level as it is,” Kallenius said.

“Some things that are very hands on and very close to serious deployment and something that are maybe a little before [deployment]. The answer to your question is the game never ends, safety is core to the DNA of Mercedes so the ultimate goal is zero accidents in traffic, and things like autonomous driving and more sophisticated driving systems are all enablers to reduce accidents, because virtually all accidents are due to human error.”

Amongst many technologies that the previous ESF from 2009 showcased, many made it to to production. Such as the night vision systems, a belt airbag, LED headlights with partial beams, and 'pre-safe' pre-collision technologies.

At the same time, a fair few didn’t, including our favourite at the time which was a rather peculiar concept of a ‘braking bag’ that was installed between the front two wheels and underbody paneling, the idea was to raise the car up before a crash so that it doesn’t dive under larger vehicles.

With the new Mercedes-Benz ESF 2019, the German brand seeks to set the standard for safety technologies for yet another decade.

What imaginative technologies do you see coming from Mercedes-Benz?

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