Nobody wants car accidents, but sadly they do happen; about 2.35 million injured each year and their aftermath is as real as it gets. Although these can usually be prevented, no one can say for sure when it would come and to whom it would come.
Good thing there are new and novel car features that are coming (or are already incorporated in newer cars) that can make driving a safer experience. Although they won’t guarantee complete safety when you’re driving recklessly, if you’re ever caught in an accident, they can help minimize the injury you will sustain—even stave away a fatal one.
To get a better understanding of these safety car features, here are a few of them:
Adaptive Cruise Control
This feature is widely available in most modern vehicles produced in the last five years. Adaptive cruise control, or ACC, uses a system of radars and sensors, usually mounted just inside the vehicle’s grille. The system locks onto the car ahead and uses that data to keep a safe distance from it.
It does this by applying the throttle automatically if it senses you’re too slow (which makes you a hazard for those driving behind you) or applies brakes if your car is getting too close for comfort. Adaptive cruise control is mostly used in cases like driving on long highways or when there is heavy traffic, where car accidents are wont to happen. ACC can be useful instead of making a trip to your Layton car accident chiropractor every other week.
Automatic Emergency Braking
This feature is gradually becoming a favorite, even a requirement, especially for smart car buyers of this generation. An AEB system will automatically apply the brakes on your car once it identifies a possible collision from happening. Most test drives show that highly accurate AEB systems are faster to react when there is an emergency that the human drivers are not able to, often shortening braking distance in the process.
Blind Spot Detection
Blind spot detection systems make it easy for drivers to know that something is approaching them from their car’s blind spot areas. The system picks up what the naked eye may have missed because of the limited view of the vehicle’s rear area. The system is programmed to alarm the driver by shining a small orange or yellow light on your side-view mirrors. More advanced systems even use cross-traffic alert systems that can monitor if traffic is approaching from the sides when you’re in reverse.
Rear-View Cameras
These systems allow the driver to see what’s behind without having to turn their head. Apart from the obvious use of parking safely, it can also protect children or pets from being run over when backing up a driveway, since they are usually too short to be seen from the driver’s seat.
These are only some of the features of most modern cars that focus on the safety of its occupants. Getting these for your car, however, doesn’t guarantee safety. It still takes discipline and following the rules to steer clear of road disasters.