Improved safety features have everyone on board when it comes to car technology. It’s helpful to brush up on your safety features knowledge to prevent accidents and injury.
While no safety feature can replace an alert, sober driver, it can aid that driver in unforeseen events. Things like airbag deployment can affect how you use your seat belt and who should sit in the front seat.
Recent cars come standard with the following safety features, but you should use them properly for them to be effective:
- Airbags
- Anti Lock brakes
- Electronic stability control
- Seat belts
What do airbags do?
Airbags are crucial safety features that come standard on all vehicles today. They prevent the passengers from contacting rigid parts of the car during an accident. They counteract impact to prevent worse injury.
Airbag technology has come a long way since the 1990s. Injuries and death due to airbag deployment were more prevalent a few decades ago. However, these dangers are almost obsolete thanks to updated safety standards and improved sensor technology.
You should make sure you do all you can for the airbag to operate as intended.
- Sit at least 10 inches away from the airbag; this helps deployment.
- Never prop your feet or legs up in front or on top of the airbag encasement. The airbag could seriously injure you if it deploys against your legs or feet.
- Always use your seat belt in conjunction with airbags. Airbags are designed to work with your body restrained.
- Never let children sit in the front seat. Thankfully, many cars have weight sensors to turn off the passenger airbag, but this doesn`t make it safe for children in the front.
If you`re looking to buy a used car, check the vehicle’s history to see if the airbags have ever deployed. That can alert you to other red flags for that vehicle.
How can antilock brakes help in an accident?
You may or may not have heard the phrase, “Stomp, stay, steer.” This phrase is synonymous with antilock brake systems (ABS) and should be ingrained in all modern drivers.
Braking is one of the most important functions of a vehicle. In the event of a hard brake, the danger of wheels locking and stopping the driver’s ability to steer was a real problem. The development of ABS solved this.
The ABS consists of sensors, valves, pumps, and a controller. It automatically pumps the brakes for the driver based on the information from the sensors.
Because it takes the braking guesswork out of the equation, you can “stomp, stay, and steer” during a hard brake. Stomp on the pedal, maintain constant pressure, and steer in the direction you want to go.
How does electronic stability control prevent rollovers?
Electronic stability control (ESC) is one of the other monumental car safety improvements. In a rollover event, the vehicle loses contact with the pavement.
Electronic stability control decreases your risk of leaving the pavement. The system senses the loss of traction and prevents overcorrection.
It works by controlling independent wheels in hard-brake situations. Sensors monitor steering input and also alert for skidding or slipping.
The system then takes over. It assists in traction control, braking, and acceleration to prevent the vehicle rolling over. These assistive technologies keep drivers safer in unpredictable events and keep all wheels grounded.
Do we really need to wear seat belts properly?
Seat belts are a safety measure that, when used properly, work with other safety measures to protect the passengers and driver in an accident.
For a seat belt to do its job, you need to do your job. Wear your seat belt properly because that impacts the belt’s effectiveness.
Wear your seat belt in the proper position, covering the hard parts of your skeleton (over hip bones and across rib cage and shoulder bones).
It is remarkable how far vehicle safety features have come through the years. While buying a classic muscle car is awesome, it will not provide you with the same safety features that come standard on vehicles today.
We can all hope that someday zero-death vehicles will be the norm. But, until then, use the safety features provided in your vehicle and make sure you carry insurance that meets your needs for that unforeseen accident.