Modern cars might be safe, but boy are they complicated. Rescue crews can be faced with an ordeal trying to figure out how to remove victims from crashes. Fortunately, Mercedes has an innovative solution to this problem: QR Codes.
You have probably run into these codes in your life, you scan them with your smartphone and they take you to a website. What Mercedes has done is created QR codes that take rescuers to information about the car.
I have always liked the idea of QR codes, but frankly they have never lived up to my expectations in terms of actually being useful. But the rescue information that Mercedes uses forces me to change my mind.
The rescue sheets contain information on the location of the airbags (on modern cars there can be more than 10, and this isn’t always obvious), batteries, the fuel tanks, high-voltage electric cables, and high-pressure cylinders. This info can save the lives of rescuers and victims when it comes to cutting or breaking into wrecked vehicles. Especially if the car, happens to be, say, on fire.
This is a big step up from having to call in based on a license plate, or memorize the rescue procedures for every single one of the cars.
The QR Codes will be placed on the car’s B-pillar and inside the gas flap. Mercedes reports that these areas are rarely simultaneously damaged in accidents and are both readily accessible.
The great thing about Mercedes’ program is that they won’t just be putting them on the new cars Mercedes and Smarts, they will be available on any of its cars build since 1990 – and for free at that.
This is a great common sense use of existing technology that stands to benefit a lot of people. So good for you Mercedes. Now please make one for my Toyota.
