5 Must-Have Safety Features in Cars

August 11th, 2020 by Nikki Guerra

For decades, most car safety features in cars were designed to minimize serious injury or even death when accidents occur. With the recent advances in auto safety technologies, the focus is rapidly shifting to preventing accidents before they happen.

Newer vehicles come equipped with technologies and features that promote safety, reduce the risk of an accident, and give drivers and their loved ones some peace of mind. Now drivers can receive advanced warning of potential hazards up ahead, enabling them to avoid collisions.

Features like blind-spot detection and automatic emergency braking can sense a collision and apply the brakes if the driver doesn’t – They are becoming standard on newer cars.

If your car is closing in on another vehicle too quickly, there’s a system to tell you that. If you’re changing lanes but forgot to check your blind spot, there’s a technology to alert you before you ram into another car. Rearview cameras, smart tires, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warnings, rearview cameras, and stability control are all industry game-changers.

Consumer Reports and the auto trade magazines and websites are examining the various safety features on the market and are asking, what is the most important safety feature in a car? The answer, of course, varies from person to person and depends on a driver’s age, lifestyle, and needs. That said, here is our list of five must-have safety features in a car:

1. Auto Safety Feature: Forward collision warning

The forward collision warning system detects when you come up behind a car (moving or stopped) too quickly. When it senses an impending collision, the system immediately sounds a warning alarm, alerting the driver to hit the brakes and/or take aversive action.

2. Auto Safety Feature: automatic emergency braking

To counteract slow reaction times, this potentially life-saving technology automatically applies the brakes when it detects a high probability of an auto collision. Often paired with the forward collision warning system, automatic braking is expected to become standard equipment on most cars and light trucks within the next few years. Some systems include pedestrian or other object detection.

3. Auto Safety Feature: Blind-spot monitoring

Blind spots are another leading cause of serious auto accidents. This new safety feature continually scans the rear corners of the vehicle that are just out of the driver’s line of sight. When it detects a vehicle moving into that area, it automatically lights up the side mirrors to notify the driver.

4. Auto Safety Feature: Lane-departure warning with lane-keeping assist

A lane departure safety feature tracks the position of the car and automatically sounds a warning – either a beep, vibration or visual cue on the instrument panel – when the car begins to veer into another lane.

This feature may sometimes be accompanied by “lane centering assist,” another feature which, when activated, can direct your car to make a small steering or braking adjustment so that it doesn’t veer outside of its lane and collide with another vehicle.

5. Auto Safety Feature: Inattentive driving monitor

Our final “must-have” vehicle safety feature may turn out to be the most important of all, as inattentive (a.k.a. distracted) driving is the leading cause of auto accidents. This safety technology monitors a variety of driver behaviors and sensory inputs to determine whether you are not paying attention to the road, too distracted by something inside or outside the car, or in danger of falling asleep. The system then sends a warning to refocus your attention and may recommend taking a break. The newest models of this safety feature may also briefly apply the brakes or gently move the steering wheel back and forth to get your attention.

The growing importance of safety features in vehicles is transforming the automotive industry at a rate like we’ve never seen before. There are so many promising products on the market, that it’s hard even for automotive experts and car aficionados to agree on what is the most important safety feature in a car. Here are some additional safety features that can help drivers anticipate and avoid collisions. They didn’t make our top five list but certainly could have.

• City automatic emergency braking (CAEB):This technology is great, especially if you live or work in an urban area with high traffic density. The technology automatically activates your brakes when you travel at a lower speed to prevent a collision.
• High-speed automatic emergency braking, or HAEB, is similar to CAEB but is for traveling on the highway at high speeds. If it anticipates a collision, it will automatically apply your brakes.
• Pedestrian detection (PD) is a system that, once it detects the presence of pedestrians or cyclists, sends a warning to the driver and activates your brakes in the event of an emergency.

The importance of safety features in vehicles cannot be overstated. As technology continues to improve, driving will continue to get safer. We can all look forward to the day when these must have safety features in a car become standard equipment on all makes and models of cars.

It’s all very exciting and promising, but let’s not forget that technology can sometimes provide a false sense of security. Even with all the advances in automotive safety technology, what matters most of all is the person sitting in the driver’s seat. If drivers are sleep deprived, inebriated, or practice risky and unsafe driving behaviors, no technology will be able to rescue them. A reminder that technology is there to help us, not replace us.

So…we told you ours. What are your must-have safety features in a car?

 

This blog post was contributed by Fix Auto San Luis Obispo, a leading industry expert and collision repair shop servicing San Luis Obispo County and surrounding areas.