Drew

but all in all no injuries and the ML held up well. The ML's rear end structure is designed to be very strudy to maintain cabin integrity in the event of a rear end collision. In normal cases, it is purposely rigid to activate the crumple zone of the other vehicle. However, it is not so rigid so as to not be able to absorb the impact either. The underbody spare tire carrier (most vehicles don't have carriers, just straps that hold them in) was designed to break away in an accident to further dissipate energy and eliminate the slight chance that it could cause intrusion of the cabin floor.<br> <br> <i>'Hello Everyone!<br> <br> Last week while my wife was stopping to avoid an accident occurring in front of her. Our 2001 ML430 was rear ended by a Nissan mini van. The mini van was running about 30 mph, my wife had come to a complete stop.<br> <br> All occupants in the ML are fine, no injuries whatsoever (wife, 3 small children).<br> <br> The minivan driver went to hospital for a check out but no obvious injuries, no passengers.<br> <br> The minivan, that thing is dead, an alarming amount of damage. It had to loaded on a flat bed, it will never see the road again. The ML seems to<br> have inflicted the maximum damage to it.<br> <br> The ML - broken/cracked bumper and bent the spare tire support. You can't really tell that the ML had been in an accident. Amazing.<br> <br> 5 seconds after the accident MBUSA came on over the speaker to make sure that all was well. Asked if she should call the police. My wife said<br> 'yup, I think so'. The police, fire and 2 ambulances arrived within minutes.<br> <br> My first question:<br> If we had not been automatically renewed for Tele Aid, would this call to us have happened? (it is a very secure feeling in this situation)<br> <br> During the accident, it seems that the seat belts in use 'retracted'. They tightened up very snugly on the occupants in the truck, and then stayed<br> tight. Now the seat belts that were in use are all 'sprung' and stuck in that retracted position. The SRS light came on, no airbags were deployed.<br> <br> Currently the truck is at the dealership getting repaired, $1200 for the bumper cover, paint and spare brackets, $1000 to fix the seatbelts.<br> <br> My second question, the seatbelt retraction and not unretracting. Is this a normal occurrence?<br> <br> Thanks!<br> -Phil Tome-'</i>