Mercedes-Benz, a subsidiary company of the Daimler AG parent company, is a German based automotive manufacture which produces car, buses, vans and trucks. Having its roots in the very foundation of the automobiles history, the Mercedes-Benz brand has well established heritage and prestige within the market place. The creation of the first automobile by Karl Benz was followed by the first marketed automobile by Mercedes at the turn of the century. The forward thinking company has developed a vast number of innovations over the course of its history, benefiting both the technological standard of the vehicles performance, and the safety of its passengers. Listed below is a collection of innovations thought to have been developed by Mercedes Benz, with many know common in most modern cars and transport vehicles.
- The technology which ceases the drive wheels from spinning was patented, later to be used to develop a traction control system in late eighties.
- Anti-locking brakes were developed by Mercedes-Benz, and were introduced in the eighties.
- Air bags were introduced by the innovative company is the early eighties, a technology which would go onto save a countless number of lives.
- In 1951, Mercedes developed the highly important safety cage, which vastly improved transport safety from then onwards, with the front and rear of the vehicles composing of crumple zones. This innovation has vastly improved vehicle safety, and Mercedes Benz has allowed its competitors to implement such technology in their cars to improve overall road safety, although the technology itself was developed and tested by MB.
- The Mercedes-Benz McLaren is the fastest automatic production road car ever, with a top speed in excess of two hundred miles per hour.
- The safety of seat belts was enhanced greatly by the innovation of the tensioned seat belts. To stop a passenger in the car from being thrown forward upon impact, the new device caused the seat belt to tense upon a crash, or a sudden jerk forwards.
- The company is currently developing a series of safety features to decrease the chance of crash. Such a feature is a device which detects when the drivers eyes show signs of increased closure, a sign the driver is becoming tired and fatigued behind the wheel. Falling to sleep behind the wheel is a major concern for road safety, with many road users lives put at risk from this deadly occurrence. The new Mercedes Benz device is designed to alert drivers when early signs of tiredness are setting in, because alerting the driver early on is important due to the gradual and stealthy manner tiredness can develop.
