1  Research teams from Assistance and Safety Systems, and from Human Factors, work with crash specialists from Mercedes-Benz Accident Research to select typical road intersection situations from the extensive GIDAS database.

2  They eventually narrow down their selections to four situations that are particularly common. The accident researchers use the detailed data on the accidents, additional documentary evidence, and witness statements to carefully reconstruct the event, whereby they focus on questions such as: When did the driver of the car that caused the accident first see the other vehicle? Was the driver’s vision impaired by glare, parked cars, or pedestrians? The corresponding parameters are then entered into the driving simulator program.

3  The driving simulator experts in Berlin record the details of the entire scene of the accident. They take photos of buildings, trees, signs, and billboards, digitize the data, compare and measure it, and then produce a simulation corresponding to that of the accident in terms of all important details.

4  For the first time ever, a real accident is simulated with such great accuracy that test subjects quickly forget they are not actually sitting in a moving S-Class. Sensors and camera systems in the simulator monitor subjects’ actions and reactions.

5  The simulator tests are analyzed, and the knowledge gained is used by the research teams to develop ideas for new assistance systems, which are then integrated into the simulator program. In follow-up tests, one third of the 81 test subjects were provided with a virtual Brake Assist, the same number were given a Brake Assist plus an intersection information system, and the rest got no electronic assistance at all. The result was a significant decrease in the number of accidents occurring.

6  From the lab to the road: a vehicle equipped with a navigation and information system, and the same driver-monitoring capability as in the simulator, is sent out on specific routes.