Safety.

[dolebludger]

Last August, we bought a new MB C320 sedan for my wife's principle use. I must confess that it was she who selected the car, in spite of my reservations concerning its price vs power and features. However, the salesman emphasized safety of the car to us, it was classy, and my wife loved it.

Eight days ago, the driver of a 7K lb commercial van (with a suspended license) ran a red left turn light and turned directly in front of my wife, who was proceeding straight on a green light at 40 mph (speed limit 55 mph.) No time to stop. There is no front end left on this car. Insurance company has totaled it. Yet, the driver and passenger compartments were not distorted to the eye, or to the fact that all doors would still open. My wife has only minor injuries. From Insurance Institute and NHTSA tests, I know that had she been driving certain other cars, I would be a widower. Anybody who has watched "Dateline" or "20-20" or such has seen the buckled floorpans and crushed "A" pillars from 40 mph head ons.

After all considerations, a replacement car exactly like the destroyed one has been ordered, and should be here in a week or two. Are MB cars higher priced than some competitiors? Yes. But where else can one buy life insurance that can be spent while one is still alive? There will be one (or more) MB's in our garage while we still are!!

Thanks,
Richard

[bill streep]

Richard, this reminds me of a similar story a year or so ago here in San Antonio. A PT Cruiser at 65 or so miles an hour (speed limit on the road was 70) crossed the median head on into a C-Class at about the same speed. PT Cruiser driver was killed instantly and it took hours to remove the body. MB driver was injured with a couple of broken legs, a broken arm and other injuries that required her to be hospitalized for a few days. When EMS came up to the car, ALL doors opened! They had her on the way to the hospital in just a few minutes. The husband left the hospital the next day and bought her a brand new E-Class.

[Richard Jordan]

Some time ago I saw piece on 60 minutes about seat and roll over safety for cars. They had a piece of footage taken on a stretch of the autobahn. In the footage you see a R129 SL coming around a bend in the fast lane, real fast, they estimate 150 mph. He lost control and slid off the road and hit the metal guardrail seperating the north and south bound sides. He then slid across the 3 lane road, hit a little dip on that side of the road, completetly flipped over onto it's roof, proceeded to skid for another 300 feet before hitting that dip again. At this point the car flipped back over, came to a stop, and the fabric top went flying off. About 45 seconds to a minute later you saw the driver climb out the passenger's door, climb up the hill a little and sat down in the grass. They said it was the automatic roll bar and reinforsced windshield frame that safed his life.

[dolebludger]

Today, we went to the salvage yard to check our destroyed 2003 C320 for personal items, and to deprogram the garage door opener and neighborhood security gate opener codes on the car. To do so, we had to retrieve the key to turn on the electrical system. My wife acidentially turned the key too far AND THE ENGINE STARTED despite the fact that there is virtually no front end left. Of course, we shut her down immediately as there had been conclusive evidence of cooling system and oil reservoir rupture. We looked at the poor car again, and noticed that the damage just stopped at the driver and passenger compartment.

To me, great cars are not just inanimate objects. Lock me up for a looney if you want. I could use the rest, but that's how I feel. It was hard to say goodbye to something that saved my wife's life. Even though the car's EXACT replacement now sits in my garage, thanks to my local MB dealer and not so much thanks to my insurance company (which still owes me $2000 just on the car) But my lawyer will take adequate care of the insurance company and the guilty party in this accident, and we have other insurance so that my wife is receiving good care for the injuries she did suffer.

But I shall never forget that 2003 C320, and to me it will always be more of a "creature that protected its occupants" than just a car. And it will be one *#*#*#*# of a long time before I buy a car for my wife that is not a Mercedes-Benz.

Thanks for listening,
Richard