Merc's new driver assist "the best"

Mercedes-Benz has developed a high-tech driver monitor that checks for the onset of potentially fatal 'micro sleeps' and sounds a warning to the driver.

It was announced yesterday at the world preview of Benz's all-new E Class luxury car on the eve of the 2009 Detroit Motor Show.

"It's like having an espresso on the dashboard," said the chairman of Daimler, Dieter Zetsche.

"The system can and will save lives, which is why we are making it standard equipment."

Mercedes is not the first with a driver alert system but it claims its Attention Assist does the job best and intends to run it out across the Benz family of cars in coming years.

It uses a variety of sensors to monitor the road conditions and driver behaviours — day or night, fast or slow road, wandering out of lanes or inconsistent use of the steering — then warns with a visual display and a loud audio warning if it believes there is a danger.

It comes as carmakers include all sorts of driver assist systems, with BMW recently previewing a forward-facing camera that can recognise speed signs and keep the driver advised of the current limit. It will be fitted to the all-new 7-Series flagship which lands in Australia priced from $200,000 in March.

The Benz breakthrough will be further down the road but more affordable in a car which will be priced from around $90,000, with a rapid roll-out to cheaper models.

"Attention Assist will definitely come to Australia. We intend to have it from the arrival of the E Class in July," said Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman, David McCarthy.

"We haven't nailed down the specification of the car yet, so we don't know the price. But the system will be included as part of the standard equipment.

"We have traditionally rolled-out this sort of technology across the range and that is what's likely to happen with Attention Assist."

The preview of the E Class came as Toyota also jump-started the Detroit Show with its first plug-in battery car, the tiny FT-EV, as most attention on opening day will be focussed on the efforts of American's 'Big Three' — General Motors, Ford and Chrysler — to re-invent themselves follow a $US4 billion bailout to prevent them going into bankruptcy as a result of a disastrous sales slump in the USA.

The 2009 Detroit Motor Show