Safety Features Your Next Car Needs
Driving is one of the most common things you do every day. And yet, it can be incredibly dangerous if you don’t take the proper precautions. In addition to adopting safe driving techniques, you should also be aware of technologies that can make safe driving easier.
Adaptive Cruise Control
Adaptive cruise control is a huge safety feature when it comes to driving on the freeway. Instead of just stabilizing your car’s speed, adaptive cruise control will allow you to set a distance you want to maintain between your car and the car in front of you.
Then, once you set the speed at which you want your car to drive, the adaptive cruise control will maintain that speed until your car comes close to the car in front of it. It will automatically slow down to maintain the before set space.
Blind Spot Warning
Blind-spot warning is a function that warns you when there are any cars in your blind spot. This is helpful when driving at high speeds because it can often be difficult to ensure that there is nothing in your blind spot when you can only do a quick head check.
Automatic Braking Technology
This feature can help you when you’re in a situation where you have to brake hard and brake fast. Basically, brake assist is able to sense when a driver is braking harder than normal in a panic stop. When the brake assist senses this, maximum brake force is applied.
This way, even though most people don’t tend to apply as much force as necessary to stop the car before a collision, brake assist can give the added force necessary to have the shortest stop time as possible. This is an especially beneficial feature to add if you can add it in conjunction with antilock brakes.
Antilock brakes basically ensure that you still have control over the wheel when you are braking hard. Without this technology, it can be easy for the car to get stuck going forward which can be dangerous. When brake assist is combined with antilock technology, you’ll have greater control of your car even as your car is able to break faster.
Tinted Windows
Tinted windows can be another positive safety feature in your car, For starters, window tint can protect you from UV rays and reduce the risk of skin cancer. And this can have an especially meaningful impact when you drive in your car for hours and hours every month. When windows aren’t tinted, it can be easy for the side of your face that is closest to the driver’s window to get more sun exposure. This can also have negative consequences for your skin.
Additionally, window tinting can also help prevent possible robberies. When people can’t see if there is anything valuable inside your car, they’ll be less likely to run the risk of breaking into it.
Traction Control
Traction control can make a big difference in the safety of your driving experience, especially when driving in winter conditions. When you’re driving in snow and sometimes on ice, the way you accelerate and decelerate becomes even more important. In normal weather, your tires have traction between the tire’s rubber and the surface of the road so it doesn’t really matter how fast the speed of acceleration or deceleration is.
But when you’re driving in winter conditions, the lowered traction due to the snow and ice means that driving too fast or slow could result in spinning wheels. Traction control can prevent this. Traction control limits the wheel spin during acceleration in order to maximize traction with the road and get the car going.
LATCH Safety Belts for Kids
Safety belts have been an essential safety feature in your car for a long time. But, safety belts have been largely designed for adults rather than children. When you have younger kids driving in the car, it’s important to ensure that their safety belts are appropriate for their height and weight. If not, getting into an accident could be more dangerous for them.
LATCH safety belts are pretty standard in most cars today but sometimes they are easier to maneuver in some cars than in others. Basically, the LATCH safety belt is adjustable—you can lower where the belt crosses the sitter’s body which can make a big difference when you have younger children riding in the seats. The belts are also supposed to be easily threaded through car seats for kids.
Parking Assist
Parking may not seem like the most dangerous task you’ll be doing with your car. But actually, there are a significant amount of car accidents that happen while parking. Having parking assist can help you prevent potential problems when you’re backing out in a busy grocery store parking lot.
Basically, parking assist can help prevent these accidents in a variety of ways. Often, when you start to back up, it will give you lines on the screen to guide you into your spot. Other times, it might beep when you get too close to an object.
Lane-Keeping Assist (LKA)
Lane-keeping Assist can be a huge safety benefit when you’re driving at high speeds on the freeway. Lane-keeping assist will help correct minor deviations in your driving that could result in crossing into another person’s lane. Not only will it alert you when you start crossing over into someone else’s lane, but it often will make a slight steering correction as well.
Driving is hard enough. Whether you’re driving in winter conditions or with a brand-new driver, there are so many different dangers to be aware of on the road. Having a car that can help you prevent some of these dangers will make a big difference in assuring that you and your loved ones stay safe in the car.
The best way to keep your family safe is to make sure that your car is in good working condition. Make an appointment with us to make sure your car stays safe!