On average, there are over 6 million auto accidents every year in the U.S. This means that there is a significant chance that at some point in your life, you may be involved in a collision. The hope is that with the right safety features included in your vehicle, those accidents will not be fatal.
When shopping for a new car, safety should be the top priority. Keeping you and your family safe on the road is not only your job, but the responsibility of auto manufacturers. In the past two decades, there have been significant leaps in the areas of vehicular safety. Many features now come standard on most models to help keep drivers and passengers as safe as possible.
Even if you have a top safety rated vehicle, there is always the possibility of an accident. If you have been injured in a collision, seek advice from the professionals like Tario & Associates to help you get the compensation that you deserve. In the meantime, it’s important to know what safety features are the most important on your next car to keep you safe.
Airbags
You would be hard-pressed to find a new vehicle that didn’t come with standard airbags. These life-saving devices are now a common part of all new vehicle manufacturing. However, there are still a few things that you need to look for. Having more than the standard driver and passenger airbags can help save the life of your passengers. Side airbags and specialized locks that will prevent front seat airbags from deploying and harming a child should be investigated before purchasing a vehicle.
Traction Control
Traction control systems are an add-on feature to your anti-locking brakes. This sophisticated system that sets limitations to how much spin your wheels can produce when on the road. If the car senses that one tire is spinning faster than the other it will balance out the difference to eliminate the possibility of moving into a dangerous skid.
Anti-Lock Brakes
Before anti-lock braking systems became standard on most vehicles, if you put too much pressure on your brakes they would lock up causing you to lose control. If you need to stop short, your anti-lock brake system will mitigate a number of braking intervals that help you stop without causing you to skid. The pulsating pressure of the brakes helps to keep your car more stable on wet or slippery surfaces while bringing you to a stop quickly.
Adaptive Headlights
Visibility is the key to staying safe on the roads. Standard headlights help you to see the road in front of you more clearly once the sun goes down, but adaptive headlights take that a step further. Using modern sensors, your adaptive lighting system can calculate your elevation, sense oncoming traffic, and read environmental dangers like fog. This not only gives your superior visibility on the road but helps other drivers to see you more clearly.
Lane-Drift Alerts
Although the lane drift alert systems are not yet standard on all new vehicles, they are gaining popularity for their effectiveness. Nearly 40% of all collisions are caused by lane drift causing vehicles to clip each other on the road. At high speeds, these small collisions can quickly turn fatal. Using sensors and cameras, your car will alert you when you start to move outside of your lane allowing you to correct your path before a collision.
There will always be risks when you get behind the wheel of a car, but with the right safety features included to protect you and your family, you can drive with more confidence and security.