The ESF 2019, the Expertimental Safety Vehicle unveiled in India at the second SAFE ROADS India Summit 2019

Daimler entities in India unveiled the MercedesBenz
Experimental Safety Vehicle ESF 2019 at the 2nd edition of the SAFE
ROADS Summit India 2019 in the presence of Shri Nitin Gadkariji,
Honourable Minister for Road Transport & Highways of India, Minister of
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India.

The SAFE ROADS India Summit is part of the nationwide 'SAFE ROADS'
initiative launched in 2015 by Daimler entities operating in India -
Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI), Mercedes-Benz
India (MBIL) and Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV).

SAFE ROADS was conceptualized in 2015 to promote road safety to the
public through physical demonstrations, visual aids and research reports,
through a road show format. Taking the awareness to the next level, the
SAFE ROADS India Summit was launched in 2017 with the theme 'Child
Safety and Vulnerable Road Users on Indian Roads'.

This year, the Summit will be held with the theme of 'Automated Driving
and Future of Road Safety in India'. Incorporating more than a dozen
trailblazing safety innovations in tangible form, the summit reflects the
mobility of the future and the new approaches for safety systems
associated with automated driving. Among the attractions at the event are
exhibits imported from Germany that offer a first-hand look into safety
measures that can save lives during road accidents. Daimler chose the
Summit as the perfect opportunity for the unveiling of the futuristic
research car 'Mercedes-Benz ESF 2019' in India.

Safety is a core competency and a core value for Daimler and its automotive
brands, which include the world famous 'Mercedes-Benz'. Mercedes-Benz
is renowned worldwide for developing highly sophisticated safety systems.
On Indian roads, approximately 150,000 people die every year of road
accidents, largely caused due to ignorance of safety norms and rules. 'SAFE
ROADS' was hence conceptualized by Daimler in an effort to reduce this
startling fatality rate on Indian roads, by creating more awareness on road
safety. Daimler is convinced that such initiatives can begin an era of road
safety awareness that supports a new culture of road safety for the Indian
people.

Manu Saale, Managing Director & CEO, MBRDI stated, "At Mercedes-Benz,
safety is an integral part of our brand promise and with SAFE ROADS, our
attempt is to promote and make roads safer for every user. Given the
understanding of road safety scenario in India, we laid the foundation by
launching the SAFE ROADS nationwide initiative four years ago. Our
journey in promoting road safety across the country, first, through road
shows in eight cities and now with the SAFE ROADS India Summit, has been
very fulfilling. This biennial Summit is a significant step to make our
initiative touch a larger audience through a sustainable and more effective
manner. It's a conglomeration of automotive safety experts from India and
across the globe, sharing and exchanging insights and latest developments
in the field of safety through live exhibits and expert speaks."

Martin Schwenk, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India said,
"Safety has remained core to Mercedes-Benz's DNA and it is one of the key
reasons why customers trust in our brand. Apart from presenting some of
the safest vehicles across our range, we also keep raising the benchmark in
the domain of safety through innovative safety features for our customers.
Mercedes-Benz India has been introducing novel safety measures in its
product offerings that enhances safety of the passengers. Our latest
contribution towards customer safety is the introduction of the 'e-Call'
service, which we launched with our connected car application 'Mercedes
me connect' in India. This is the first-ever 'e-Call' service in the industry with
the aim of reducing fatalities by enabling faster and specific assistance in
case of an accident. The eCall service can immediately deploy on-site
emergency assistance upon receving data set from the affected vehicle's
embedded e-Call unit, and also verbal information from the passenger. This
will be available 24/7 and 365 days per year and will cover 27 states and 5
union territories in India. We strongly believe 'SAFE ROADS' initiative will
be able to underline all these aspects of road safety comprehensively and
make Indian roads, 'safer'."

Satyakam Arya, Managing Director & CEO, Daimler India Commercial
Vehicles mentioned, "We at Daimler India Commercial Vehicles show our
commitment to road safety in India by introducing global technologies that
revolutionize the CV industry. Our BharatBenz brand has led this sector in
safety since being launched in 2012 with crash-tested steel cabins. We will
continue to develop and promote safety technologies that save Indian lives
through our products and the SAFE ROADS initiative."
Jochen Feese, Head of Accident Research, Safety Concepts and Child Safety
at Mercedes-Benz AG said, "Safety is our core brand value and is a part of the
DNA for Mercedes-Benz. That is precisely one of the reasons for building the
ESF 2019. We have done so to show the ideas and concepts on which our safety
experts are currently working in research and development. One highlight is
the cooperative behaviour and communication with the environment: the
ESF takes care of all road users surrounding it."

Child safety is another important field for the safety engineers. Already in
the previous edition of SAFE ROADS India Summit 2017, the focus was on
'Child safety and vulnerable roads users in India' – which made an impact
across the country.

"With the ESF 2019, we are also promoting our idea for a connected child
seat with PRE-SAFE® functions. In dangerous driving conditions, PRE-SAFE®
Child can reduce the belt slack by tightening the child seat belt. Furthermore,
side bolsters extend on the door side to provide better lateral support of the
seat. These measures can help to significantly reduce the risk of injury for the
child", Jochen Feese adds.

In 2017, through Mercedes-Benz' nationwide CSR efforts, more than 15,000
children – the future road users -- from New Delhi, Bangalore and Pune
received training on road safety measures. At the Summit, 300 school
children and 200 college students from New Delhi attended the event. The
college students were given a 'First Responder Training' by NGO partner
Indian Head Injury Foundation.

About the 2019 Exhibits:
The physical demonstration will be undertaken with the use of exhibits that
have been imported from Germany providing a real-life experience of
safety measures that can potentially save lives during road accidents.

ESF 2019:
The Experimental Safety Vehicle ESF 2019 is safety on wheels. The research
vehicle is packed full of surprising and innovative tech and features –
coloured lights, projective panels and a warning triangle robot. The car
represents how much safer the future of mobility can be.
Mercedes-Benz engineers have gone way beyond that with the ESF 2019,
exploring new technology to protect passengers and others even more. The
ESF 2019 is designed to be intuitive in order to provide a safety benefit not
only to its passengers, but also to the surroundings.
Click here for more info on ESF 2019

Child Safety Seat:
It is one of the most important purchases you'll make for your child when
you buy a car. A child safety seat is designed specifically to protect children
from injury or death during collisions.
• All children aged 12 years and under should be seated in the appropriate
child seat and positioned in the rear seat of the car.
• Airbags can kill young children riding in the front seat
• Never place a rear-facing car seat in the front seat or in front of an airbag
• Appropriate child seats should be used based on child's size and weight

Body in White (BiW):
A 'Body in White' (BiW) passenger car exhibit highlights some of the core
elements of a car structure which have high tensile strength that can absorb
most of the energy during a crash and minimize passenger car intrusions.
In addition, safety sensors and restraint system components are visible.

Alcohol Goggles:
Alcohol goggles provide a unique experience. Wearing these special types
of glasses simulates the common 'walk-the-line' activity which causes loss
of balance and delayed reaction times. Visitors will feel their susceptibility
to impairments and realize the potential severe consequences due to
alcohol consumption.

The United Nations announced the 'Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-
20' with a goal to stabilize and reduce the forecast level of road traffic
deaths around the world. However, the global road traffic fatalities
increased from 1.24 million in 2010 to 1.35 million in 2016. If it was business
as usual, the estimated road traffic fatalities would reach about 1.9 million
in 2020. Thanks to the significant efforts in improving road safety
awareness, strict enforcement, emergency care during golden hour and
improved reporting of the road traffic deaths has resulted in less road traffic
fatalities compared to the estimated values.

Especially in India, since 2011, efforts like formation of National Road Safety
Council (NRSC) by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway (MoRTH)
had formulated guidelines for improving road safety. Also, several OEMs
started creating awareness about road safety through various platforms
e.g., corporate social responsibility (CSR). Finally, the introduction of
improved Motor Vehicle Act in India will ensure in strict enforcement of
traffic rules including hefty fines of over-speeding, dangerous driving,
overloading, load protruding, etc

However, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), India
witnessed the highest number of road traffic fatalities in 2016, and this
made up about 20 per cent of global road traffic fatalities. In 2017, a total
of 4.6 lakh road accidents were reported which claimed about 1.47 lakh
lives and left about 4.7 lakh injured. The over-speeding related incidents
contributed to about 70 per cent of all accidents in 2017.

When 2011 was considered as a base year, the fatality trend will reach about
250,000 by the end of the year 2025 - if business as usual continues with
respect to road safety. Thanks to the significant efforts in improving road
safety awareness, strict enforcement, emergency care during golden hour
and improved reporting of the road traffic deaths has resulted in less road
traffic fatalities compared to the estimated values. However, if 2017 is taken
as base year, the fatality trend will reach about 200,000 as shown in Figure.
By 2025, government can achieve 70 per cent fatality reduction if strict
enforcement on over-speeding is achieved 100 per cent.