Remember when anti-lock brakes, a couple of airbags, traction control, and 3-point seat belts, were the only safety features available on your car? Those days are no longer with us. Most purchasers today will not part with their hard-earned cash until their new vehicle includes the bulk of the most up-to-date safety features.

And rightly so, because a survey conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the United States found that better safety features significantly reduce road fatalities and injury risks. According to a 2015 IIHS poll, 7,700 fewer driver deaths tool place in the year 2012 than if vehicles had remained unchanged since 1985.

Buckling your seatbelt is the most crucial thing you can do for protecting your life. Many advanced safety technologies, e.g. forward-collision warning and automated emergency braking, can also help you avoid accidents.  People who need car accident injury claim assistance might wish to contact a car accident lawyer Perth.

While comparing different models of cards don’t forget to look at the safety features. For example, antilock brakes and new electronic stability control are highly desirable. Although these amenities are now standard on new automobiles, they are also worth looking for if you are buying an older vehicle.

1. Adaptive cruise control

This system, which is now standard on the majority of new cars like:

Using sensors and radar to lock onto your car ahead to maintain a safe distance automatically with an application of throttle when acceleration is needed.

Brakes are automatically applied when traffic begins to slow.

ACC is mostly utilised by drivers during long highway drives or when traffic becomes congested. If the ACC system detects a potential collision, it will apply heavy braking and tighten your seatbelts too.

2. Automatic emergency braking

When it comes to buying a new car, this is a feature that nowadays more and more people are seeking.

If an AEB-equipped vehicle detects a probable collision and the driver fails to respond in time, the vehicle will begin braking for you. According to IIHS research, rear-end collisions are reduced by 50% in vehicles equipped with AEB.

3. Lane departure warning

Although there are two separate systems, I’ll lump them together here just for the argument’s sake because they both will work to keep you settled in your lane.

The lane departure will sound an alarm or buzzes your steering wheel or seat to alert you that you are crossing white lines or leaving your lane accidentally.

Meanwhile, if you stray out of your lane, Lane Keep will gently guide you back into it. The system can be turned off if the lines get faint or your system is having problems detecting them.

4. Blind spot detection

Remember how in driver instruction, you were taught to always look over the shoulder and utilise your mirrors to observe what was back of you and also in your blind spot?

By illuminating little yellow or orange lights in the door mirrors, blind spot detection detects what you may have missed and warns you about vehicles approaching from behind.

5. Rear-view camera

Remember how you were taught to always look over the shoulder and use the mirrors for seeing what was coming behind you and in the blind spot during driver training?

Blindspot detection detects what you may have missed and alerts you about vehicles approaching from behind by activating little orange or yellow lights present in your door mirrors.

6. New safety technologies

While these features are now available on a wide range of vehicles, three new safety technologies will begin to arrive on production automobiles in the next years. They will be standard equipment in five years.

7. Safety exit assist

Safety Exit Assist, as shown in the recently unveiled in a certain new model of Hyundai, temporarily prevents children from opening the car’s back doors when vehicles or bicycles approaching from behind.

It’s a follow-up to your blind spot monitor and it has the potential to become one of the most popular features among parents with young children.

8. Electronic stability control

Your electronic stability control (ESC) is a step beyond traction control. During a turn, this system assists in keeping your vehicle on its intended route for avoiding any sliding or skidding.

It detects steering angle, wheel speed, sideways motion, and yaw using a computer coupled to several sensors (rotation).

If the vehicle deviates from the intended path of the driver, the stability-control system applies temporary brakes to one or more wheels, based on the system, decreases engine power to bring the vehicle back on track.

ESC is especially useful in tall, top-heavy cars such as sport-utilities and pickup trucks, where it can help keep the vehicle from rolling over.

With the 2012 model year, electronic stability control becomes standard on all vehicles. It began with premium cars and has since spread to other vehicles. Now, it became particularly widespread on SUVs.

Each automaker’s stability control system is known by a different name, as noted below. If you’re unsure whether a used automobile has it, ask before you buy. While a model may have been available with ESC before 2012, not every trim or any individual car may have.

9. Facial recognition software

Facial recognition technology is only now making its way into more affordable automobiles, such as the Subaru Forester that was unveiled at the New York Auto Show recently.

It continuously monitors a driver’s level of awareness and alerts them if they are not paying attention. Few other carmakers will follow suit in the coming years until this technology, such as anti-lock brakes (ABS), becomes standard.

For the time being, these alerts are available as a buzzer that will sound to inform you, but we may expect much more proactive systems that may vibrate parts of the seat shortly.

Safety starts with your initiative

Although there is a large list of tools available to keep you protected and safe on the road, you can feel prepared if you have these advanced essentials in place. Safe driving, however, begins with the driver.

You will hopefully never need such emergency safety features if you take care of your automobile and pay attention driving on the road.