Car Safety Features That Can Save Your Life

Car accidents are responsible for about 30,000 deaths in the US every year. Of interest is that most of these accidents are caused by preventable factors such as reckless driving, vehicle defects, and poor road maintenance, meaning the rates are likely to remain high for as long as vehicles are human-controlled vessels. Read on for five basic car safety features that can significantly reduce your risk for accidents and serious injuries.

1.  Quality tires

Your safety on the road is partly dictated by the tires you ride on. Worn tires can cause your car to skid on a slippery road and swerve into oncoming traffic. They can also make it difficult for the driver to control the car, especially during emergencies, leading to otherwise avoidable collisions. Always check to ensure your car’s tire treads are in good shape and suited for the road conditions you are driving on.

Many car accidents in the US can be attributed to tire-related issues, and it is worth noting that the state and condition of your automobile’s tires can be a fault-determination factor when pursuing car accident compensation.

2. Automatic Emergency Braking

Automatic emergency braking prevents rear-end collisions by detecting the distance to a stationary or preceding vehicle and preparing your car for emergency braking. The system is activated when the car gets dangerously close to a vehicle in front, and the driver fails to press the brake pedal. Its sophisticated algorithm calculates the deceleration needed to stop the car before a collision and swiftly applies partial brakes.

3. Lane departure warning

Lane departure warning and lane-keeping assist are driving aids that help drivers keep their vehicles on the right lane. The technologies have been found to be incredibly helpful when driving on narrow roads and during long, tiring drives. They are pretty standard too nowadays; you won’t need to part with a fortune to get a vehicle that has both.

4. Airbags

Since they were introduced in the 80s, airbags have saved millions of lives across the globe. Your car most certainly has one, and you may not see it unless you are involved in a crash. Airbags inflate in a tenth, or less, of a second after detecting a collision force of sizable magnitude. Essentially, they are designed to inflate before the driver and passengers’ bodies hit the dashboard or steering wheel from the inertia of a head-on-collision.

5. Electronic stability control (ESC)

Many modern pickup trucks, SUVs, and other larger vehicles come with inbuilt ESC systems. These systems help drivers retain control of their vehicles when making turns on wet or slippery surfaces. Automobiles that have this feature are said to face a significantly lower risk of rollover crashes, which is perhaps why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently made it mandatory that all passenger vehicles up to 10,000 pounds come equipped with them.

Conclusion

These are some of the features that motorists are using to ensure their safety on the highway. If your car doesn’t have them, maybe it is time you checked with an expert for a safety feature overhaul.