It all began with an invisible revolution. When Mercedes - Benz unveiled the first car to be designed with passive safety aspects in mind in 1959, the innovations – crumple zones and the safety passenger cell – were invisible to the naked eye. Then airbags and seat belt tensioners – both world firsts – came along. Since then, of course, we have never let up in our quest to always go one step further than required when it comes to safety. Should you have an accident today, sophisticated, efficient occupant protection systems help reduce the risk of injury dramatically. Self - protection is also enhanced by the high – strength safety passenger cell and systems such as adaptive airbags. And if the worst comes to the worst, the roll - over bar can pop up automatically within a fraction of a second.


The SL even helps to provide greater safety after an accident, for instance with a fuel tank situated in a protected position ahead of the rear axle, or the automatic engine cut - off function which is triggered after a severe collision. Automatic activation of the hazard warning lamps makes it easier to locate a car which has been involved in an accident. And doors which unlock automatically and are easily opened mean that occupants can be rescued more quickly after an accident.