Europe makes the car safer

Alongside environmental protection and the reduction of fuel consumption, European and above all German and Swedish manufacturers provided solutions for more safety in road traffic.

On into the 1970s the many deaths in road traffic were simply part of everyday life. In 1953 the federal government introduced road accident statistics. In the 1950s and 60s, newspapers such as the Saarbrücker Zeitung reported on serious car accidents on a daily basis.

In 1957 there were 10,461 traffic accidents in Saarland with 225 deaths. By 1972 the figures had increased to 25,274 and 341. In many cases, these deaths had technological causes: the steering wheel impaled the driver like a spear on impact; passengers were hurled out of the vehicle. It was still unusual for anyone to put on a safety belt. Occupants hit their head on an unpadded dashboard or collided with the windscreen, which promptly shattered. Many lost their eyesight. Necks were broken for lack of a headrest. Pierced chests and split skulls – gruesome scenes like these were encountered by police officers and rescue workers day in, day out.

By the early 1990s the problem of all these deaths in road traffic had begun to be counteracted with some success. Europe's automotive industry developed decisive technological innovations such as the three-point seat belt, the crumple or 'crash-collapsible' zone, the ABS and the airbag. At the cutting edge of this campaign were Volvo and Mercedes-Benz, often in cooperation with BOSCH as the world's largest automotive supplier.