This is one of the many tragedies that happen every year in the US. This one really hit home to me since it happened close by. I believe that Parktronic should be offered by MB at a REALISTIC price for all their cars. If I hit or killed someone while backing up in my 06 C350 I don't know how I could live with it knowing I could have bought any of the competitor's cars with a back up monitoring system. I realize that MB is now offering a $29 value system that will cost at least $800 with installation. That is not the answer. What does it take to put some sense in the marketing people?


"Toddler hit by car, killed in driveway
By Jim Walsh
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 30, 2007 01:21 PM

A one-year-old boy was tragically killed Sunday morning when his father accidentally ran him over in the driveway of their Queen Creek home, according to the Pinal County Sheriff's Department.

"It appears that the father was backing out and accidentally ran over his son. He called 911," said Mike Minter, a sheriff's spokesman. "It's a horrible thing."

Firefighters with the Rural/Metro Fire Department arrived on scene, in the 4000 block of Meadowland Drive, and pronounced the child dead, he said."

 

So you are trying to blame the cost of the system by the company as an excuse for not walking behind the car, not looking behind the car, etc. How did people get along prior to having all these gizmos? Did they by chance have common sense, a brain, etc? Did they take responsibility for their actions instead of running to lawyers for not being protected by someone for something they themselves didn't think of or care for?

 

are you blaming Mercedes for not making rear view cameras free? you get bluetooth and power seats free instead!

there are toilets that can clean ur *** for you. Can I blame my bathroom for not having available technology when i go to school and realize I forgot to wipe? No, I deal with the crap!

Use your head, if you have a toddler, he should be accounted for at all times! If it was not the car, it was going to be the knives in the kitchen. These parents failed. I am not blaming a corporation not making a technolgy available for a childs death. There are bad parents out there... sorry...

 

Obviously I'm talking to the wrong crowd. I'm tired of juvenile responses and feel I might as well leave this forum after being a contributor for a number of years.

 

I have to agree with amdeutsch.

 

I'm not insulting you, I am disagreeing. If you have a toddler, and don't keep track of him, these things happen.

If it wasn't the car, it would have been something else (swallowing something, falling, sharp object). To say that mercedes should include back up cameras because it would have saved THIS kids life is crazy!

Not everyone can afford a Mercedes. If they are driving a Kia, they don't have that option either. BMW 3 does not have that option, which is what the C competes with.

Now, if you were to say "we should have back up cameras, because a luxury car meant for urban areas needs it to prevent fender benders" you would not have people coming out disagreeing with you.

 

MB-Jim is a long-time member with both a valid issue and a serious concern. As a new member, I've noticed a definite trend, not just on this thread, but on other threads as well - it is as though you all, especially our moderator, consider it a sport to ridicule others and voice self-proclaimed superiority.

Is this really why forums like this exist? No. They exist so that we can have a place to exchange ideas and information.

Lighten up, everyone. Don't drive members away - especially ones who have contributed a great deal to this online community.

 

I agree with Jim. I wouldn’t mind paying for a parking assist (camera or sensors), but there isn’t such option besides the “quickpark” which is basically an overpriced ($1200 installed) cheap sensor that does the job worst than my friends ’97 5 series (11 years old). This quickpark is nothing more than a $29 ebay sensors, see for yourself in this thread https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w204/211247-quick-park.html . They don’t even come with a visual aid.

Now, before some of you jump at me with the “why did you buy the car” question; let me say that I love my car. I would never change for an IS or a 3 series. But this doesn’t keep me from looking at the obvious downsides. What pisses me off is that those are small details that probably don’t cost the company that much but still make a huge dereference to the consumer.

We are not talking about some sophisticated auto-parking system like the big lexus has; or a night vision camera like the S class has. It’s a simple set of sensors!! It’s a 2008 model!! And we have to admit that for a car that’s over the $40ks and with a MB badge on the grille you would expect this kind of features; along with some others that we are not going to get into right now (did someone say keyless go; gear shifting pads on the wheel; courtesy lights on the mirrors? The list goes on).

 

I think we got your point. There is a technology out there that can save lives. Unfortunately this technology is not cheap. You seem to think it should be. The other people here are trying to say that the responsibility for these young lives falls with the parent or parents, not with the car companies. Your point sucks. You were called out on a sucky point now you want to pick up all your toys and go home like a little kid. I think you got the harsh responses because you were being very harsh on the car companies in your original post.
Like someone said before...what did we do before all these neat gadgets came out. We took resposibility for our actions and we used caution in these types of situations.
Man invented the horse and carriage but lost the use of his feet.
Now that we have rear cameras and parktronic we should not look behind our cars anymore? Give us a break Jim, you're not thinking clearly on this one.

 

I believe in looking in all appropriate directions when driving. When backing up you should look back and look at all your mirrors and TAKE YOUR TIME.
So many drivers do stupid things basically because they were either impatient or distracted.

Sure back up sensors and back up beepers do work, but the driver really is ultimately resonsible for their actions.

Personally back up sensors should be standard in all SUVs and large trucks simply because I had my car front and rear ended from a few SUV drivers who can't parallel park and they really shouldn't be driving such a massive vehicle if they don't know how to drive it.

 

If you don't know how you could live with yourself after you "hit or killed someone while backing up" in your 06 C350 and blamed it on the car company for not making parktronic cheap then I suggest don't live at all. Find the nearest sharp object and end it.

 

'one-year-old boy'

He could have been crawling, laying down, crouching whatever, would the sensors have made a difference? Maybe, maybe not!

Think the care-taker at the time is at fault not the father, even if he didnt look, as the care-taker should have total control of a child that age outside of a safe environment (if there ever is one at that age)! When are people going to realise we need to take responsibiliy for our own actions rather than finding some company or third party to blame.

If anything accidents happen, this could be just one of those things. Miscommunication whatever!

Don't think people are trying to drive others away but this post was asking for it.

 

Parktronic is standard in Australia, i think it needs to be there for Pre-Safe system. Yeah it should be standard everywhere else.

 

Safety is always a concern with heavy machinery.

Unfortunately, you have to have some kind of cutoff as to what people are willing to pay for within each product line. You could add the sensors as standard equipment as well as half a dozen other items, but at what point have these added items pushed the price of the vehicle above what people are willing to pay for it.

Taking a look at this from another angle, isn't it possible that some features are counterproductive as it reduces the interactivity of the driver?

 

Well, it seems that most have a handle on this subject matter; especially when it comes to cost, technology, exchange rates, etc. But like in any good discussion one will always find armchair wannabe lawyers that argue the other side or those that will get bent out of shape because they don't find agreement with their point of view.

 

I am a big believer in parktronic myself. I would always choose a car with parktronic (front & rear) over one without.

It's easy to overlook an obstacle. The Infiniti E35 will offer a camera on all sides of the vehicle. No curb feelers needed!

 

No need to go MB-JIM....long-time contributors are a rarity in this forum.

I understand most reasons why people are disagreeing with you, but the title of the thread is "Why I want Parktronic" and you are the "I". So you should get to say it and don't need to defend it if you don't want to.

Would the kid have been hit if the car had parktronic? Who really knows. Should MB offer it as a standard feature? I'd like to see it as part of P2 myself. Is it a substitute for responsible driving/parenting? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

But I think your point was simply that you would prefer to have it as an extra layer of protection to avoid accidents such as that and MB should consider that. If so, then I get your point and don't feel the need to jump on you about anything.

 

I believe in this situation all parties own a percentage of the responsibility albeit the onus must always be on the driver:

The driver - has to take all reasonable precautions when driving a car, they are at the wheel, there are no excuses for sloppy driving.
The adult - must take responsibility for their child however hard that can sometimes be
The manufacturer -must make all reasonable efforts to equip (or offer) their cars with affordable pro-active safety systems

Notwithstanding this, sometimes accidents happen

 

not necessary for pre-safe

 

The fact is that much cheaper cars now come with a backup camera as standard equipent and so it should be offered on the Benz.

Anyone with children know they are incredibly unpredictable and can get away from any parent in a split second. It is a horrible tradgedy that this happens, and with Mercedes claiming to be at the forefront of safety, they should have all the safety devices available on all of their vehicles.

 

Thanks to those who have given constructive responses.

I'm not asking for MB to give away anything, only make available all W204 safety items as options.

One thing I must point out is that I'm not sure of the value of a video system vs Parktronic. It may not be a good idea to be watching a video display while backing instead of looking out the rear. Maybe a combination of the two systems would be ideal.

 

I've never had a parktronic-type system. However, my wife's Lexus RX has the backup camera. This is an awesome system from the standpoint of safety. I agree entirely that there is no substitute for alert, responsible driving (and child-rearing). In my wife's car, the camera offers a view of what's behind the vehicle that is simply unavailable to the driver any other way (too many blind spots in an SUV, especially behind/low). In any event, I view systems like this as a sublement, not substitution, for good driving practices.

That being said, I agree with those that think some sort of parking assist should at least be an option on the new C. The bimmer 3 series may not have this, but many other competitors in this price point (mainly from Japan) have found ways to make this technology available and affordable. Personally, I've already begun researching options for installing a rear-view camera in my C63, when I take delivery next year - initially, options appear to be very slim and expensive.

Regarding the responsibility of the manufacturer for people's safety - I agree this isn't really pragmatic (though entirely different than the industrial heavy machinery world). I think this can be seen in every car ad - safety is presented as a selling feature and a luxury, not necessarily an essential feature of the car. If Mercedes thought that for the price point of the C, additional safety provisions would be more popular than say, seat warmers, they would have gone that direction instead.

Right or wrong, I have to imagine that this feature was discussed during the design of the C and (perhaps based on market) the decision was made to eliminate this feature from the US market (for now?).

 

+1. And the same goes for each of the other options that aren't available in the US.

 

Glad to have not lost you MB-JIM...

 

Maybe somebody can explain how the parktronic system works. It would help me agreat deal in this discussion.

Thanks