Béla Barényi - the father of passive safety

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Béla Barényi - the father of passive safety

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Created on January 17, 2017

Text:

Sara Räss

Photos:

Daimler AG

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Béla Barényi at the presentation of the Mercedes-Benz 230 SL Pagoda at the 1963 Geneva Motor Show

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Mercedes-Benz 220 S (1960) - Crash test against bus at the Sindelfingen plant

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Mercedes-Benz (1973) - Demonstration of a crash-tested car, safety is an issue - International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt 1973

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Mercedes-Benz 280 SE (1979) - Side impact crash test

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Mercedes Benz E-Class (1992) - Accident research, airbag

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On the occasion of his 80th birthday in 1987, Béla Barényi received an honorary plaque from the city of Sindelfingen and a portrait by Robert Rettenmayer.

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Béla Barényi in his office in front of one of his models for the "Terracruiser" study, around 1948

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Béla Barényi is inducted into the "Automotive Hall of Fame" in Detroit on September 16, 1994

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Around 50 years of car safety development - from the world's first car with a crumple zone (Type 220) based on Béla Barényi's principle to the new C-Class

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Around 50 years of car safety development - from the world's first car with a crumple zone (Type 220) based on Béla Barényi's principle to the new C-Class

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Mercedes-Benz 280 S (1972) - Instrument panel and safety steering wheel

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Mercedes-Benz 280 SL (1969) - classic Mercedes interior with safety steering wheel

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Summary

Béla Barényi is one of the great minds when it comes to safety precautions in the automobile. He himself defined passive safety and developed many innovative ideas to protect the driver, the passenger and the external accident victim. This report discusses the life and work of Béla Barényi.

This article contains the following chapters

Childhood and education
Employment at Daimler in 1939
Ahead of his time
Later work

Estimated reading time: 4min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Béla Barényi is one of the great minds when it comes to safety precautions in the automobile. He himself defined passive safety and developed many innovative ideas to protect the driver, the passenger and the external accident victim. Béla Barényi was born in 1907 in what is now the Czech Republic, at a time when horse-drawn vehicles still dominated the streetscape and automobiles were still viewed with suspicion by most people. However, Barényi was lucky enough to grow up in a wealthy family in the Austrian monarchy. His grandfather, Fridolin Keller, owned a luxurious Austro-Daimler, so Barényi became accustomed to and interested in automobile transportation at an early age.

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