Mercedes-Benz to come up with safer child seat soon

SYDNEY - A safer and more advanced special seat in the car for your kid would soon be a reality-it was first shown in the ESF Experimental Safety Vehicle.

Mercedes-Benz is looking at turning a concept child seat showcased in one of its experimental safety vehicles into a product that owners would be able to buy, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Dirk Ockel of Benz revealed that the carmaker was in the process of developing a retail version of its experimental child’s seat.

Mercedes-Benz has brought the ESF to Australia as part of a showcase of its work on creating cars that are not only much safer for their owners, but also other people caught up in car crashes.

The ESF-a specially modified S-Class limousine-features a number of experimental technologies that engineers are hopeful will one day make it into production.

A child seat that clips into Isofix mounting brackets in the rear seats, and provides significant head and side protection than existing child seats is in the process of becoming reality.

Ockel said the child seat uses an adjustable tubular steel frame to build a strong cell around a child, which is also fitted with side and head padding.

He said the seat has no back and uses the rear-seat’s contour and padding, leaving significant legroom - and protective space - for the child compared with other versions that use a complete seat-shaped shell.

However, the child seat is unlikely to ever make it to Australia, because the version developed for Mercedes-Benz uses an the respected Isofix international fastening system that clips into two brackets mounted in to each rear seat. Most cars sold in Australia already have Isofix brackets fitted to the cars.

In the meantime, the fight to get more safety gear in cars will continue.

Ockel said a convincing case has to be made for each new piece of safety equipment added to a car.

“It’s often a big fight between engineers and safety,” he says. “Every space in a car is often taken, and we add weight while the engineers try to take weight out.” (ANI)