A German TV channel, Stern TV, got itself a scoop recently when Mercedes brought three of its range-topping cars for a demonstration of its safety radar, which is designed to ensure that, when the car in front brakes hard, so does yours. You won't rear-end anyone, is the claim.

Sadly, that's exactly what happened. The £50,000+ cars crashed into each other when Mercedes put the three cars in line astern and got the first to brake heavily. The two behind didn't stop, with obvious results.

One German news site said that Mercedes security engineers rooted out the problem quickly: the test was conducted in a hall constructed of steel which confused the radar. The system didn't work as it should have done -- and as a result, over £150,000-worth of shiny new luxo-barge looks a bit textured.

Mercedes said that the system "works perfectly in all other circumstances" but, if you ever drive one under cover -- the Channel Tunnel shuttle comes to mind -- you'd best keep that left foot hovering over the brake pedal.

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=12483

and here's the video of the event!  One for Dennis Norden methinks

http://www.stern.de/tv/sterntv/549835.html?nv=cp_L2_

We ran the story a couple of weeks ago and reported that: "Mercedes brought three of its range-topping cars for a demonstration of its safety radar, which is designed to ensure that, when the car in front brakes hard, so does yours. You won't rear-end anyone, is the claim.

"Sadly, that's exactly what happened. The £50,000+ cars crashed into each other when Mercedes put the three cars in line astern and got the first to brake heavily. The two behind didn't stop, with obvious results." The cars were driven by a journalist from German motoring publication AutoBild.

It turns out the whole event was a fake, information that's been revealed as a result of an audio tape recorded by the journalist involved, Michael Specht, who conducted the test on Stern TV. The tape shows that the shunt was in fact an accident, but not the accident that was planned to happen.

Early reports that the system won't work in a steel hall are correct. Mercedes knew that before it ran the tests and decided to fake it: Specht would brake manually. They placed a plank of wood along the run so Stern would know when to brake. But the S Class's suspension foiled the plan as Specht could not feel the car run over it, was unsighted by the smoke emulating fog, and didn't brake in time -- right in front of the rolling cameras of Stern TV, who didn't know about the plan.

Specht has since been fired, while several Mercedes engineers could suffer a similar fate, according to one report.

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=12581