Mercedes-Benz has showcased a new concept for child safety in its 2019 Experimental Safety Vehicle (ESF) and before going into the description we’ll say out loud, that is a freaking cool child seat. The child seat concept comes with Pre-Safe functions, where the seatbelts are preventively tensioned before a crash and side impact protection elements are extended. Monitoring of seat installation and the child’s vital signs are other functions integrated into the seat. This new child seat is connected with the vehicle via a wireless link and equipped with its own installation monitoring system: eight symbols directly on the seat guide the user through the individual installation steps in a self-explanatory manner and indicate when the seat has been fitted correctly. The link with the vehicle means that installation of the seat can also be checked and monitored on the media display from the driver’s seat and the front passenger seat.

The concept seat works when the vehicle’s sensors detect a Pre-Safe-relevant driving situation, the child seat’s five-point belt system is tensioned within milliseconds and a side-impact protection element is extended. The great advantage here is that thanks to the tensioned belt, the child is more firmly and accurately fixed in the seat and belt slack is reduced. The side impact protection elements also follow this approach. Also, the Pre-Safe child seat comes with an integrated camera and special sensors to monitor the child’s temperature, pulse, and breathing and to establish whether the child is asleep. While it is unclear that this concept will come into full fruition, it is highly likely that many of the presented innovations will be implemented at some point in the future.