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Impact: Real Drivers. Life-Changing Stories.

Explore unscripted accounts of survival and newfound perspective

Michael Costa

Newington, Connecticut

“There was no trunk — it had been completely pancaked, and the rear license plate had disappeared into the wreckage.”
2007 Mercedes C230 Sport Mercedes Sedan Safety Mercedes C Class Rear Safety Mercedes rear-end accident Mercedes Impact Stories

It was March 2010. I was driving home from work in my 2007 C230 Sport — my first MB, which I had bought only a few months earlier. As I approached my street, I put on my blinker, and came to a stop so that I could wait for oncoming traffic to pass before making the left-hand turn. I glanced in my rearview mirror and I noticed a car approaching far quicker than it should have been. My heart sunk, as I knew what was coming. I took my foot off the brake in a last-ditch effort to try to accelerate out of the way, but I didn’t even get the chance to touch the gas pedal.

It was the loudest, most horrific sound I had ever heard. My body was pushed back into my seat, and my C230 flew forward 100 feet into the oncoming lane. Once I got my bearings, I felt surprisingly “okay.” In fact, it was only when I got out of the car and examined the damage that I saw just how hard I had been hit. There was no trunk — it had been completely pancaked, and the rear license plate had disappeared into the wreckage. That’s when I realized how safe this car had really kept me.

When the police arrived, they were astonished to see that I was walking around with no apparent injuries. They told me that if I had been in another car, I wouldn’t have fared so well. Less than a week later I bought my 2008 C300 Sport. I won’t drive anything but a Mercedes.

Learn more about the 2011 C-Class

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