Radar car

Interesting morning. Spent it driving the new Mercedes C-Class in Southern France. We had a coffee stop at a test centre, where our German hosts invited us to try out some of the car's autonomous safety features under test conditions. So that was how I came to be driving on a test track at 50 mph towards a stationary obstacle, with the apparent likelihood of an imminent collision. Except that the car wouldn't let it happen. Its systems detected the danger, automatically tightened the seatbelts and applied the brakes to halt itself just before what would have been the point of impact.

This eye-catching model was part of a display explaining the scope of radar zones, sonic and proximity sensors around the car. How incredibly clever modern automotive technology is becoming. It was an old adage that the most unreliable component in any car was the nut holding the steering wheel. Now the smartest cars are equipped to take control when the unreliable nut fails to react quickly enough to looming danger.