Mercedes radar-based braking system causes crash

lol I seen this the other day. if you go to http://www.stern.de/tv/sterntv/549644.html?nv=cp_L2_ and scroll down to the yellow box with video the link it will let you watch, but its all in German below is the story.

 

 

The new Mercedes S class has a sophisticated radar-based braking system - when it works. A TV demonstration ended up in a 3-car pile-up when the S-class' safety radar failed.

A German television channel got a bigger scoop than they bargained for when Mercedes showed up with three of their flagship vehicles - only to crash them into each other when a safety demonstration failed.

In the program, Mercedes drives 3 S-classes behind each other. The first car hits the brakes, and the two following cars brake down automatically, to avoid a crash. In theory. In practice, the first car braked, and the two others continued right into the back of each other, resulting in a 3-car pile-up at the test site.

According to a German news site, the blushing Mercedes security engineers soon discovered the problem: The test had been done in a hall which was made of steel. This confuses the radar, and the system doesn't work properly, causing more than £150,000 worth of cars to crumple into each other.

The system "works perfectly in all other circumstances", according to Mercedes. For now, though, it may be worth keeping your foot near the brake pedal.

wow... that sucks

The people at MB probably felt like SHIT being there and seeing all three S all banged up. That was great though.

I don't like the idea of a radar based braking system in the first place. Now a radar based WARNING to brake would be cool but braking FOR me? I Don't like having the control of my car being taken into the hands of a CPU, no human being is perfect, neither is the technology made by a human being, therefore there are flaws, obviously as this test shows. I'm sure in some situations it's great! But I dunno, thats just... hmm, I don't like the idea but that's just me.

I kind of wonder how quick the system checks. IE highway speeds a car cuts infront of you. suddenly the radar would see an object 1 foot away. Does it slam the brakes thinking all hell is breaking loose or does it know that the object a foot away is not getting closer.

Well i saw this commercial, another company i THINK has it but it's a warning system where it detects something like 100ft or so in front of you and beeps and if necessary applies a bit of braking power to it.

 

Only thing with radar is how it's setup to read, how it's calibrated and hoping there are no flaws... I'd rather have a warning than actual brake applied if it were me.

Was to be expected though. I think it's a cool gadget but I think they are gonna have a lot of lawsuits to settle because of it.

Was to be expected though. I think it's a cool gadget but I think they are gonna have a lot of lawsuits to settle because of it.

 

Probably

At least the engineer didn't step in front of the moving car to test the system....