Think your car is pretty up to date? Measure it against this new technology.
The $50,900 Mercedes-Benz E350 E-Class BlueTEC sedan can pretty much take care of itself. It monitors its tire pressure, adapts its headlights according to the curve of the road, adjusts its suspension according to road conditions and even tells drivers when they get too drowsy to drive--all the while massaging the owner in "drive-dynamic" (they move when the driver does) multi-contoured seats.But does all that fancy technology really make the E-Class safer to drive? Yes.Take just one example: More than 30% of all drivers in the U.S. admit to having fallen asleep while driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Sixty percent admit to driving while feeling drowsy. That adds up to roughly 100,000 crashes per year that can be blamed on fatigued drivers--71,000 people injured, 1,550 killed and more than $12 billion in insurance losses, NHTSA reports.Mercedes-Benz's attention-assist program works by creating a driver profile that uses braking, acceleration and road conditions to judge a driver's typical behavior on a given trip. When the system detects a significant deviation from the profile, it assumes the driver is drowsy and triggers warnings to that effect.In short, the E-Class embodies what it means to be a smart car: to communicate well with itself, the road and other cars, plus anticipating and responding to the needs of the driver and passengers.Smart ParkLess dramatic perhaps than drowsy driver alert, but practical nonetheless, is active park assist. Perfected in cars like the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKS, the device will literally park your car at the touch of a button--after it finds the perfect spot to park.To use it, drivers press a button to start ultrasonic sensors that measure potential parking spots along the road, and then beep when they identify one that will fit the car. The system then prompts the driver to accept assistance to park, and the steering system takes over to position the car into place, all hands-free. (The driver still operates the gas and brakes--and can interrupt the system at any time by grasping the steering wheel.)The system came as a direct response to consumers' demand, Ford says. And these days the technology used in the newest vehicles typically affects both safety and convenience--it's all part of the same system.Take Ford's Sync and MyFordTouch, for example. They connect sound, phone, navigation and other tech functions in cars like the 2011 Ford Edge to make them all touch- and voice-activated via one system. But they weren't created simply as cool toys, says Alan Hall, Ford's spokesman for technology and design.
"Our research shows that the most dangerous distractions in the car are those that take your eyes off the road or your hands off the wheel, so that was our going-in proposition: 'OK, customers are bringing [iPhones and iPods] in the car, they want to use them in the car, how can we facilitate it being done in a safer manner?" Hall says."This was not just, 'Hey, let's add connectivity for connectivity's sake.' It was, 'Hey our research shows that there's a better way to do this. And we can do it.'"Mercedes-Benz's automatic trunkin the SL550 and auto-closing doors in the Maybach 62 are other examples of small but practical applications that make smart cars desirable, especially when it comes to avoiding bruised and broken fingers.And Mercedes' new split-screen viewer in the S-Class sedan is the next step for in-car entertainment, according to Robert Moran, a spokesman for Mercedes-Benz: "The driver can have a view of radio or navigation or anything they want for driving, and then as you move from one side of the car to the other, the passenger can watch a movie on the same screen. Neither can see what the other one is doing. And what is really cool is the screen is not split physically, it's just that the pixels are split in the way that you look at them."Crash Avoidance
Elsewhere, Porsche ( PSEPF.PK - news - people ) has done much to develop sensitive airbags (they adjust deployment automatically in relation to how big and how heavy the seat occupant in front of them, which helps prevent airbag-related injuries in crashes) and smarter fuel in its cars. In fact, it just unveiled the 918 Spyder hybrid, the first-ever production hybrid from Porsche and one that promises significant efficiency gains for Porsche, according to Porsche head Detlev Von Platen--he has said the 918 will define the next 60 years of Porsche.In Detroit, General Motors is working on what might sound like a pipe-dream: crash-proof Cadillacs."There's a whole range of Cadillac vehicles that we're designing right now that [won't crash]," says Clay Dean, the executive director of GM advanced global design. "There are multiple radars in the front of the car that make it so I literally could not crash the car and hurt myself if wanted to."Obviously they aren't going to be 100% crash-proof, but it certainly sounds like steps in the right direction. The $59,475 Cadillac DTS Platinum sedan, for instance, already has lane-departure warning, blind-spot alertand adaptive cruise control.Though they seems far-fetched now and are found exclusively in luxury vehicles, similar technologies will eventually be basic safety requirements for all cars, just like seat belts, bumpers and headlights became decades ago, Dean says. (Mercedes-Benz, for instance, was the first carmaker to make a driver's front air bag and the three-point seatbelt standard equipment in its new vehicles.)The real challenge for automakers is to see who can produce first."In the industry it's proven that people will pay attention to those who are viewed as innovative and wise and that are embracing green technologies or just new entries," Dean says. "I think you'll see more chances with technology being taken now than ever before, because you just have to."That, for consumers at least, is good news.
The $50,900 Mercedes-Benz E350 E-Class BlueTEC sedan can pretty much take care of itself. It monitors its tire pressure, adapts its headlights according to the curve of the road, adjusts its suspension according to road conditions and even tells drivers when they get too drowsy to drive--all the while massaging the owner in "drive-dynamic" (they move when the driver does) multi-contoured seats.
But does all that fancy technology really make the E-Class safer to drive? Yes.
Take just one example: More than 30% of all drivers in the U.S. admit to having fallen asleep while driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Sixty percent admit to driving while feeling drowsy. That adds up to roughly 100,000 crashes per year that can be blamed on fatigued drivers--71,000 people injured, 1,550 killed and more than $12 billion in insurance losses, NHTSA reports.
Mercedes-Benz's attention-assist program works by creating a driver profile that uses braking, acceleration and road conditions to judge a driver's typical behavior on a given trip. When the system detects a significant deviation from the profile, it assumes the driver is drowsy and triggers warnings to that effect.
In short, the E-Class embodies what it means to be a smart car: to communicate well with itself, the road and other cars, plus anticipating and responding to the needs of the driver and passengers.
Smart ParkLess dramatic perhaps than drowsy driver alert, but practical nonetheless, is active park assist. Perfected in cars like the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKS, the device will literally park your car at the touch of a button--after it finds the perfect spot to park.
To use it, drivers press a button to start ultrasonic sensors that measure potential parking spots along the road, and then beep when they identify one that will fit the car. The system then prompts the driver to accept assistance to park, and the steering system takes over to position the car into place, all hands-free. (The driver still operates the gas and brakes--and can interrupt the system at any time by grasping the steering wheel.)
The system came as a direct response to consumers' demand, Ford says. And these days the technology used in the newest vehicles typically affects both safety and convenience--it's all part of the same system.
Take Ford's Sync and MyFordTouch, for example. They connect sound, phone, navigation and other tech functions in cars like the 2011 Ford Edge to make them all touch- and voice-activated via one system. But they weren't created simply as cool toys, says Alan Hall, Ford's spokesman for technology and design.
"Our research shows that the most dangerous distractions in the car are those that take your eyes off the road or your hands off the wheel, so that was our going-in proposition: 'OK, customers are bringing [iPhones and iPods] in the car, they want to use them in the car, how can we facilitate it being done in a safer manner?" Hall says.
"This was not just, 'Hey, let's add connectivity for connectivity's sake.' It was, 'Hey our research shows that there's a better way to do this. And we can do it.'"
Mercedes-Benz's automatic trunkin the SL550 and auto-closing doors in the Maybach 62 are other examples of small but practical applications that make smart cars desirable, especially when it comes to avoiding bruised and broken fingers.
And Mercedes' new split-screen viewer in the S-Class sedan is the next step for in-car entertainment, according to Robert Moran, a spokesman for Mercedes-Benz: "The driver can have a view of radio or navigation or anything they want for driving, and then as you move from one side of the car to the other, the passenger can watch a movie on the same screen. Neither can see what the other one is doing. And what is really cool is the screen is not split physically, it's just that the pixels are split in the way that you look at them."
Crash Avoidance
Elsewhere, Porsche ( PSEPF.PK - news - people ) has done much to develop sensitive airbags (they adjust deployment automatically in relation to how big and how heavy the seat occupant in front of them, which helps prevent airbag-related injuries in crashes) and smarter fuel in its cars. In fact, it just unveiled the 918 Spyder hybrid, the first-ever production hybrid from Porsche and one that promises significant efficiency gains for Porsche, according to Porsche head Detlev Von Platen--he has said the 918 will define the next 60 years of Porsche.
Elsewhere, Porsche ( PSEPF.PK - news - people ) has done much to develop sensitive airbags (they adjust deployment automatically in relation to how big and how heavy the seat occupant in front of them, which helps prevent airbag-related injuries in crashes) and smarter fuel in its cars. In fact, it just unveiled the 918 Spyder hybrid, the first-ever production hybrid from Porsche and one that promises significant efficiency gains for Porsche, according to Porsche head Detlev Von Platen--he has said the 918 will define the next 60 years of Porsche.
In Detroit, General Motors is working on what might sound like a pipe-dream: crash-proof Cadillacs.
"There's a whole range of Cadillac vehicles that we're designing right now that [won't crash]," says Clay Dean, the executive director of GM advanced global design. "There are multiple radars in the front of the car that make it so I literally could not crash the car and hurt myself if wanted to."
Obviously they aren't going to be 100% crash-proof, but it certainly sounds like steps in the right direction. The $59,475 Cadillac DTS Platinum sedan, for instance, already has lane-departure warning, blind-spot alertand adaptive cruise control.
Though they seems far-fetched now and are found exclusively in luxury vehicles, similar technologies will eventually be basic safety requirements for all cars, just like seat belts, bumpers and headlights became decades ago, Dean says. (Mercedes-Benz, for instance, was the first carmaker to make a driver's front air bag and the three-point seatbelt standard equipment in its new vehicles.)
The real challenge for automakers is to see who can produce first.
"In the industry it's proven that people will pay attention to those who are viewed as innovative and wise and that are embracing green technologies or just new entries," Dean says. "I think you'll see more chances with technology being taken now than ever before, because you just have to."
That, for consumers at least, is good news.
