Camburg/Jena, June 14, 2026. An unusual incident in the Saale-Holzland-Kreis caused a stir on Sunday morning. Three free-roaming horses in Camburg triggered the automatic emergency call system (eCall) of a parked Mercedes by kicking it, prompting a police response.
- What: Automatic emergency call (eCall) triggered by horse kick
- Where: Camburg (Saale-Holzland-Kreis, near Jena)
- When: Sunday, June 14, 2026
- Involved: Three escaped horses, a parked Mercedes-Benz, Feuerwehr Camburg, Polizeiinspektion Saale-Holzland
- Impact: Deployed airbags and significant property damage to the car; no injured persons or animals
False Alarm Turns Out to Be an Animal Surprise
Officers from the Polizeiinspektion Saale-Holzland expected the worst when a car’s automatic emergency call system in Camburg went off on Sunday morning. Such an emergency call, also known as eCall, is typically sent automatically during severe collisions to navigate emergency services to the accident site as quickly as possible. The police therefore initially assumed a serious traffic accident.
Horse Kick Triggers Airbags and eCall System
On-site in Camburg, located near Jena, emergency forces were presented with a completely different, highly curious scene. Instead of a field of debris, the officers found three free-roaming horses. They had previously escaped from a paddock. The local Feuerwehr was already on duty and was able to secure the animals, returning them unharmed to their owner shortly thereafter.
The reconstruction of the incident finally shed light on the matter: one of the horses had apparently unintentionally kicked a Mercedes parked at the side of the road. The kick was so powerful that the vehicle’s airbags deployed. This mechanical shock and sensor activation were interpreted by the vehicle’s integrated eCall emergency system as a severe impact. Consequently, the system independently placed the emergency call and alerted emergency services.
The Technology Behind the Automatic Emergency Call
Since 2018, the eCall system has been legally required for all new passenger car types in the European Union. It is intended to save lives by automatically contacting the emergency control center in the event of a serious accident and transmitting the vehicle’s GPS data. The fact that the system was now activated by a horse’s kick demonstrates the high sensitivity of the sensors, but it resulted in one of the most bizarre police operations of the weekend in the Saale-Holzland-Kreis. Significant property damage was caused to the Mercedes by the kick and the deployed airbags.
Source:
Jena: Automatic car emergency call by free-roaming horses
Transparency Note: This article was automatically generated, editorially reviewed, and expanded with AI support.