Every day, millions of people rely on their motor vehicles to get them to where they need to go. They expect these vehicles to be reliable, fuel-efficient, and safe, and these days there are several ways that drivers and passengers can have a safe trip.
Here are five safety features that vehicles can have:
Automatic Emergency Braking Systems
Automatic emergency braking systems use on-car sensors such as cameras, lasers, and radar to detect and avoid an imminent crash and apply the brakes if the driver isn’t quick enough.
Among other things, this technology prevents one car from bumping into another on the road, activating the brake system when a car gets too close to the rear of another car as sensed by the technology.
Rear-Mounted Radar
Parallel parking is a feat of epic maneuvering, especially when it occurs on busy roadways with side-street parking. To help with the problem, companies have started including rear-mounted radar in standard vehicles, which uses sound and distance mapping to give the driver a rear-facing view of his car. Rear-mounted radar works, using sensors and accompanying video technology, by tracking the distance of vehicles directly behind the driver’s car to help avoid collisions while parking. Additionally, digital cues on the video screen map the way for proper parking on the road itself. This technology is also available with night vision specifications.
Automatic Headlights
If you’re caught in a sudden downpour or are simply distracted after a long day of work, you may not be aware that the sun is no longer illuminating your path for other drivers. Sensing headlights turn on automatically when receptors fail to gauge an appropriate amount of light for your car to drive in traffic. In order to prevent your car’s battery from draining, sensing headlights also turn off after your car has remained off for a period of time.
Lane-Drift Assists
Cars often require corrective action on the road to prevent accidents caused by drivers failing to remain in their respective lanes. This act of lane drifting isn’t always due to inattention — sometimes, especially when operating a new vehicle, it’s difficult for drivers to gauge their spatial distance between lanes. Using embedded sensing instruments to approximate the spacing of the lanes and the distances from parallel drivers, a lane-drift assist provides instantaneous corrective action.
If the car with a lane-drift assist veers too close to the edge of its lane, the car will automatically readjust, allowing it to travel along its correct path. A version of this technology is also used in commercial airplanes to prevent aerial collisions.
Airbags
Airbags are among the oldest safety feature of modern cars after the seatbelt. They have evolved from air-filled bags in a steering wheel to covering entire sections of a car. Nowadays, there are even sophisticated airbags that can measure the severity of a crash, the placement of a seat, and the use of seatbelts in order to determine the girth of deployment.
However, they have been known to cause injury instead of keeping people safe. Recently, there was a large recall involving airbags made by parts maker Continental Automotive Systems. That company’s airbags carry the risk of deploying too forcefully and injuring drivers and passengers when deployed.
If you or a loved one were injured by a Continental-made airbag, we might be able to help. Fill out our free, no-risk case evaluation form today.
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