CLS Driver Fatality

[l5foye]

Recently near where I live, the driver of an almost new CLS 500 was killed after hitting a JCB digger. The digger was hit so hard by the RH corner of the CLS that it spun round in the road. It just goes to show that irrespective of what safety features a car has, speed and nature of impact will determine the outcome of an accident.

 

[wallingd]

Nothing can defy the laws of physics.

 

[Rose Chap]

Cap'n.

 

[Seamster15]

Not good. be careful people.

 

[Rory]

The digger was hit so hard by the RH corner of the CLS that it spun round in the road.

I wouldn't have thought it would take that much to spin a JCB?

Years ago I remember reading that MB used to say it was very unusual for someone to be killed in a Merc, unless the accident was catastrophic. Strange statement, I thought - if someone *is* killed, then just say it was catastrophic.

MB also used to send engineers out from the factory to look at cars where occupants had died - wonder if they still do that?

 

[A-AvantGarde]

MB also used to send engineers out from the factory to look at cars where occupants had died - wonder if they still do that?

Think they only do that in Germany, as did (do) Volvo in Sweden.

 

[Dryce]

Years ago I remember reading that MB used to say it was very unusual for someone to be killed in a Merc, unless the accident was catastrophic. Strange statement, I thought - if someone *is* killed, then just say it was catastrophic.

The statistics probably worked in their favour - partcularly in
the past (no A, B, or ML and fewer MBs overall).

I would suspect that the dominant influence on the stats is
average age of drivers and size of car. That gives MB and Volvo
a head start in the numbers game.

 

[l5foye]

Interesting point raised by Rory. The local stealers were asked by the police to have a look at the car. They contacted MB and were advised to 'not get involved'. From this, I think we can take it that MB do not want to know about fatal accidents in Mercs anymore.

 

[BIG Sean]

I wouldn't have thought it would take that much to spin a JCB?

JCB 3CX is 8.5 Tonnes - you hit that at any sort of speed when it is stationary, it is not moving and is going to smart terribly, but if it is moving in your direction and you are at the same or similar speed - you are more than likely, history!

 

[mioba]

Interesting point raised by Rory. The local stealers were asked by the police to have a look at the car. They contacted MB and were advised to 'not get involved'. From this, I think we can take it that MB do not want to know about fatal accidents in Mercs anymore.

if we consider that the cls 500 spun round,
then its clear the merc was travelling at some speed to be spun round so much, that the occupant was killed.

my impression is that the driver was certainly not acting with due care at the time..........maybe "the do not get involved" was because the driver was clearly not involved in a "honest accident", in such circumstances maybe merc are right not to get involved as such an incident would not occur under honest driving conditions.

 

[panason1c]

Recently near where I live, the driver of an almost new CLS 500 was killed after hitting a JCB digger. The digger was hit so hard by the RH corner of the CLS that it spun round in the road. It just goes to show that irrespective of what safety features a car has, speed and nature of impact will determine the outcome of an accident.

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/breaking/8708190?view=Eircomnet

 

[JonLittlechild]

my impression is that the driver was certainly not acting with due care at the time..........

Hang on, we have no idea of the circumstances of this accident. For all we know at the moment, this could have been entirely the fault of the JCB driver.

Also, bear in mind that it doesn't necessarily take a great deal of speed to spin a car round, especially if the road is wet.

Let's not assume the driver was 'misbehaving' until we know otherwise.

Jon

 

[Satch]

JCB 3CX is 8.5 Tonnes - you hit that at any sort of speed when it is stationary, it is not moving and is going to smart terribly, but if it is moving in your direction and you are at the same or similar speed - you are more than likely, history!

Rather splatty history as well I suspect.

 

[Birdman]

if we consider that the cls 500 spun round,
then its clear the merc was travelling at some speed to be spun round so much, that the occupant was killed.

The way I read the original post, it was the digger that was spun around by the impact.

 

[glojo]

Mercedes-Benz are very well built regarding safety. Look no further than the S-class that Princess Diana was in. The only survivor was the only one wearing a seatbelt! Definitely a lesson to be learnt there.

I would be interested to hear from Plodd regarding vehicles involved in fatal road incidents, do manufacturers get routinely informed or is it only if investigators have a query regarding any aspect of the incident?

Who remembers the Smart car on I believe Top Gear?

Regards,
John

 

[wallingd]

John

Do you mean the one that hit that concrete wall @ 70mph on Fifth Gear?

Regards

 

[glojo]

John

Do you mean the one that hit that concrete wall @ 70mph on Fifth Gear?

Regards

I'm sure that could be it. Did they say the car could survive but such was the retardation, the G-force would have killed the occupants?

Regards,
John

 

[Rory]

I'm sure that could be it. Did they say the car could survive but such was the retardation, the G-force would have killed the occupants?

Baiscally, yes.

The problem with Smart is that it doesn't have the physical size to have big crumple zones to absorb the initial impact. They made the car very strong, but that means the impact is absorbed by the occupants, which isn't good.

 

[glojo]

Baiscally, yes.

The problem with Smart is that it doesn't have the physical size to have big crumple zones to absorb the initial impact. They made the car very strong, but that means the impact is absorbed by the occupants, which isn't good.

I understand fully what your saying but it sounds like younever saw the program? These cars were travelling at high speed and hitting an immovable object. I am all in favour of crumple zones, they are a life saving technology, but they can only do so much.

I'm sure there were modern vehicles in the same demonstration and they were absolutely totalled, the occupants would not have survived?? As stated you do NOT have to justify the excellent crumplezone technology. Another excellent reason for buying a modern Mercedes-Benz 'rust bucket'

Thanks,
John

 

[Rory]

I understand fully what your saying but it sounds like younever saw the program? These cars were travelling at high speed and hitting an immovable object.

I did see it, but I can only recall the Smart, because it was so striking. As I remember, the car was so intact, that the door still opened?

I'm sure there were modern vehicles in the same demonstration and they were absolutely totalled, the occupants would not have survived??

I don't recall the other demo's, but these things are never black and white - you often seem to hear of accidents where one person was killed and another was almost unhurt.
A car that was totalled may well be a good thing - it means the car has absorbed a lot of the impact (or it was very old & rusty!).