Béla Barényi was a visionary engineer. He worked for Daimler from 1939 to 1974. During his time there, he initiated over 2,500 registered patents, a large number of which were related to automobile safety. In fact, he was the one to invent crumple zones, a principle of automotive safety which has now been incorporated into car designs all across the world.
Automotive safety seems to be one of the most pressing issues at hand today. News feeds, social media streams and newspaper articles are abuzz with chatter about how some of our favourite cars have been deemed useless in the event of a crash, or with suggestions about making our roads and cars safer. The important answers come in the form of the latest, albeit sometimes basic safety technology and equipment being added to cars rolling out from manufacturers' assembly lines.
However, an important chapter in the history of vehicle safety began 75 years ago, with the arrival of Barényi at the then Daimler-Benz AG. Ever since then, Mercedes-Benz has had an enduring influence on safety development. Many of the company's innovations, particularly in the field of protection for vehicle occupants and other road users, have saved countless human lives over the years.
To mark this anniversary, Mercedes-Benz invited past and present members of the safety development team, representing different eras of vehicle safety, to the 'Legendenhalle' (Hall of Legends) in Böblingen. This enthralling look back over the first 75 years of providing protection for vehicle occupants and other road users brought together a lot of Barényi's colleagues, some of them who had known Barényi personally.
"Every innovation needs creative engineers who, like Barényi, are bold enough to question the status quo and to break new ground," emphasised Professor Dr Thomas Weber, the Daimler AG Board of Management member responsible for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development. "Our declared aim at Mercedes-Benz is to retain and extend our role as trendsetters in the field of vehicle safety and, by doing so, to continue to improve road safety", said Professor Rodolfo Schöneburg, Head of Vehicle Safety at Mercedes-Benz Cars. "And we are a long way off running out of ideas in this respect. We are currently, for example, concentrating on reducing the strain on the upper torso in a side-on collision."
Here is a brief history of how Mercedes-Benz has made their cars safer over the years:
