Car accidents inspiring bouts of nationalism aren't all that new. However, this could be the shakiest case of it that we've heard of recently. Wang Zhan, the Chinese owner of a Mercedes S350, rear-ended a DongFeng van. In spite of the rather severe damage done to the car, the airbags didn't deploy, and Zhan and his daughter had to make a trip to the hospital. When the medication wore off, Mr. Zhan knew immediately what he needed to do: hold a press conference and announce that he'd only be buying Chinese goods for the rest of his life.

Based on the damage, it looks like he was doing some serious speed when it happened, and it's clear that the airbags should have deployed. Mr. Zhan said Mercedes never gave him a satisfactory answer as to why they didn't. Still, it happens, and we can imagine a number of other vehicles in which such an accident would have prevented Zhan from doing anything else, ever -- like, oh, some models from China. And we wouldn't mind knowing how the DongFeng van fared. Yet while we all know this never would have happened in a Geely, we might recommend that Zhan perhaps try something from Sweden first...

[Source: Winding Road]

Well it certainly is not good that the airbags did not deploy, but I wonder if Mr. Zhan and his daughter would still be alive to tell their tale had he been driving a Jinbei.

First they copy and now they are bashing, well f**k you. China is on a good way of becoming my 1# country that I dislike.

This crash looks strange. The front of the cat is quite undamaged, only the hood is destroyed. Against a van it sounds strangeAgainst a van the front would be shortened, here it is only the hood that is deformed from what I see. Even the bumper is like new!!

It look almost like a fake crash done with a Caterpillar, because the hood is destroyed and the winsdhield too, and a part of the roof is deformed, whereas the rest of the car is totally undamaged. It can't be a crash against a van.

Even against an all-terrain van, the damage would have looked different I think.

Did you notice the A-pillar is broken? What could possibly do that? No need from the rescue team to do that, and the crash could not have dne such a strange thing.

Looks fake to my eyes.

Judging by the photo it looks the like the DongFeng van went over the hood of the Mercedes S350 instead of getting rearended at its fullest.

I guess situation is that the Mercedes was travelling at reasonable high speed and braked very hard for the Chinese van in front.
And that the van was build very lightweight, like weighing around 1000 kg while the Mercedes S350 is weighs around 1800 kg. The weightdifferences could be quite significant.
Or the van was very high on its wheels, that's also a possibility, or a combination of both.
It's just my speculation/guess of the accident, I could be wrong about the situation though.

The A-pillar of the Mercedes seems to held up the hit quite well, I guess that saved their life in a way or another.
The front bumper seems quite intact as well, that might be the reason why the airbags didn't deploy. An airbag cannot deploy at the any bump it detects in the front bumper, like an old lady hitting her purse against the bumper. You might have seen that commercial/video on youtube.

But people tend to be more forgiving when it concerns a cheaper car.
Mr. Wang Zhan is a bit too quick on judgement here in my opinion.
I think this could happen to any carbrand, either BMW, Volvo, Cadillac and even a Chinese make car in this matter.
And being Mercedes with over 100 years experience in carmanufacturering and with million dollars Research & Development equipment I doubt that a Chinese carbrand would do any better at this moment which started not that long ago in carmanufacturing by comparison.

Yeah I thought to a all-terrain van or a van with very high ground clearance.
But then, the roof would be undamaged and the A-pillar would not be broken like that (notice the chrome line that is broken).

And even with a very high ground clearance, the front would be damaged.

A ground clearance is max. 20/25 cms, an S-Class even braking hard is higher than that, so the front would crash, not only the hood.

Here everything is intact, you can see the bumper, place for headlights and grille, everything is here. It is like it had crashed something with more than 50cms ground clearance and very high. 50cms is what a Unimog has, so hardly a van.

And it still does not explain the A-pillar, broken but not deformed.

I like how his banner says "I will use Chinese goods for the rest of my life". The air bag sensors are located in the front bumper and judging from the photo, the front bumper and the crumble zone wasn't even deformed in any way by the impact. The airbags did not deploy because the sensors were not triggered.

He should also realise that he is still alive after the crash, in fact he is so well that he can stand on his own feet and start a massive public b*tching. The car's rigid safety cage saved his life. Think about it, what is the use of airbags if the entire car just crumples like a tissue box?

Here is a classic example of an idiot who tried to divert people's attention from his big mistake. A van is a big target, and to rear end something like that at such speed, you have to be either blind or brain dead. Sometimes the excellent safety standards of Mercedes Benz save the lives of those who are not worth saving. Go ahead Mr. Zhan, drive around in your precious Chinese brand car, I will wait for the day when you rear end another van and I will guarantee, you will be meshed flat, let alone walking out of it alive.

Usually, from what I know, the airbag sensor is on the hood lock. And another one further in the engine compartment. And you have decelerometers, too.

But here, I think the decelerating speed was not enough, the van was light I think, and has been propelled by the S-Class so the decelerating speed did not justify an airbag deployment.

Anyway, I agree with monster...How can you bitch a car that just saved your life, and saying you'll buy a Chinese car when you see what a crashtest do to them?

Something definitely went over the roof cause the roof appeared to be damaged as well. Whatever it is, and whatever the circumstances, he guy is 100% fine, the car did what is designed to do, thus he can still bitch out loud. One thing is for sure, he should not be allowed to drive anything ever again.

I think he should be checked out for serious neurological damage or defiencies... Anyone that leaves a Mercedes Benz S Class because he wants a "safer chinese-made vehicle" clearly has some serious problems with his cerebral cortex... Check for a tumor that could be affecting his decision making I think...

I mean seriously... A Mercedes S Class.... I sure do know that when I have children I want my wife driving them in one because then I will know that they have every opportunity of surviving the crash if it were to occur...