Mercedes-Benz’s car safety technology praised for helping to track Boston Bombers

By Marcus Amick April 30, 2013

Mercedes-Benz’s mbrace2 technology has been getting major buzz for helping to track down the alleged Boston Marathon bombers.

AutoWeek reports that while police declined to discuss any of the details around the Mercedes Benz-M class stolen by Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Mercedes-Benz USA did say they were contacted April 19 during the city-wide hunt for the two suspects in Boston.

After confirming that the request was indeed from authorities, Mercedes-Benz used the crossover’s Stolen Vehicle Location function to track down the 2013 ML350.

“The authorities asked that mbrace be activated and…it was,” said Mercedes spokeswoman Donna Boland, reports AutoWeek.

Upon learning how the carmaker’s technology help to track down the suspects, Mercedes-Benz USA CEP Steve Cannon tweeted” “Just found out that our mbrace3 technology in the stolen Mercedes helped locate the Boston terrorists! Thanks to our amazing law enforcement.”

In a Boston Globe article about the bombing, in which three people were killed and more than 260 injured, described the technology as “the marvels of the Mercedes-Benz ML 350,” reports AutoWeek.

The news around Mercedes’ vehicle tracking system has proved to be quite the opposite from a situation in China centered on GM’s OnStar vehicle tracking technology following a child abduction in Jilin Province in early March.

Liaoning Tianhe Buick, a dealership in Jilin’s neighbor province, posted a sales ad online using a photo of the kidnapped baby to promote General Motor’s OnStar GPS system that allows for the lockdown of a stolen vehicle, reportedly before anybody knew the infant was murdered.

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