You may have noticed lately that there has been some attention to the fact that Mercedes have added QR codes to certain areas of their newest vehicles to allow rescuers to scan the code with a smart phone or tablet. This will then show them the vehicle data based on safety systems and battery locations etc. Following a recent visit I have put together some information: I have always had reservations on this type of technology, one being that it may distract us from age old skills and experience and lead us to become complacent and rely on technology too much. No doubt there is a place for modern technology in the rescue world, but as with anything, are some developments a token gesture from the manufacturers or are they a genuinely good idea.
This was the vehicle we looked at: QR codes were placed on the front facing side of the B-post and inside the fuel ?ller cap. I did have my doubts but on re?ection and past experience the fuel ?ller cap is a pretty good location, I’m not so sure about the B-post, however 2 locations are better than one.
Fortunately I do have a QR scanner on my phone, I know there are many different types so I can not recommend which one would be the best. To my surprise the code scanned very easily, perhaps this was down to good lighting and the fact the code hadn’t become dirty with road contaminants etc. The information displayed was very good and accurate. This is the info that came up on the phone.
The only downside that I found was that the speed of getting this information is down to the speed of your network (3G-4G) if you do not have this speed of connection you cannot get the info. Even with 3G it still took longer than I would personally like. If you have no phone signal you cannot get the information from the code. Here is the code link that comes up for you to look at fully: https://rk.mb-qr.com/212.5 – this is what will load up on your device.
In summary, this is a very good innovation and use of technology and I do welcome it, but in reality I will always teach to double up with the age old peel and reveal and feel what the tools are doing and make adjustments as needed. If this software works on scene it is of bene?t and should not be ignored. If you can, use it.
Thanks to Mercedes Benz for their kind help and assistance.
By Jon Curley, RTC Rescue. Please send any feedback or experiences to rtc.rescue@gmail.com