8 Safety Features You Shouldn't Skip

Chris Tonn | September 8, 2016

Photo: Volvo Cars of North America

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Don't Skimp on Safety Features

When buying a new car, you are presented with dozens of choices: Paint color, cloth or leather, lease or buy. Beyond these choices, however, are the decisions about safety technology, which can help you survive a crash, or avoid one in the first place.

We’ve looked at eight safety features that are worth the money, whether they come standard on the new car, or are extra-cost options. Each high-tech safety feature adds another layer of protection to the driver and occupants, as well as pedestrians and drivers of other vehicles on the road.

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Photo: General Motors

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Emergency Response Systems

For many drivers, the fear of being stranded in an unfamiliar, remote location after an accident is legitimate. Fortunately, technology has given many cars the capability of connecting drivers with emergency services, either at the push of a button, or automatically if the car senses an accident.

Many drivers are familiar with OnStar, as fitted to many vehicles from General Motors (Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC) since the late ‘90s. Other manufacturers offer similar emergency response systems. Many combine cellular connectivity with GPS, and include on-board tracking of the cars’ performance parameters - sensing sudden, abrupt stops, or deployment of airbags.

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Photo: General Motors

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Adaptive Cruise Control

Few annoyances will ruin the rhythm of a long highway drive like encountering another car that is driving about half a mile per hour slower than your cruise control speed. Until recently, the options were limited to speeding up to pass, or slowing down to remain behind.

Modern technology has given drivers another tool: Adaptive cruise control uses data from a laser or radar unit in the front of the car to detect cars, and automatically adjust the cruise control speed to maintain a safe distance. Some cars can even use this technology in stop and go traffic, to ease the strain on the right leg and safely keep the driver an appropriate distance from the car immediately in front.

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Photo: Volvo Cars of North America

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Emergency Brake Assist

In modern cars equipped with anti-lock braking systems, an emergency stop is best done by simply mashing the brake pedal as hard as possible, allowing the ABS to maintain control. However, many drivers fear skidding and losing control in a panic situation.

Cars equipped with emergency brake assist technology senses when the driver is in an emergency situation, and pre-charge the brakes, overriding the tentative pedal press by the driver to ensure a quick, safe stop. Additionally, some vehicles feature Automatic Emergency Braking. This feature uses radar or lasers to determine if a stationary hazard is in front of the driver, and automatically apply the brakes.

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Photo: American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

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Blind Spot Detection

Drivers need to know what is behind them while driving, and ill-adjusted mirrors can obscure cars in adjoining lanes and slightly behind. Engineers have developed various systems to warn drivers, so they can avoid changing lanes into other vehicles.

Blind spot detection technology typically includes sensors on both sides of the car which sense vehicles immediately behind and beside. Some cars, specifically many Honda vehicles, have small cameras mounted near the passenger side mirror, so an unobstructed view of the blind spot can appear on the dash-mounted screen.

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Photo: Volvo Cars of North America

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Lane Departure Warning

There are many reasons drivers drift out of their lane: they’re tired, they’re distracted, they’re avoiding an obstacle, or they’re just bad drivers. Whatever the reason, lane-departure warning systems can help correct the behavior.

Cars equipped with a lane-departure warning system can alert the driver if they do drift out of the lane, often with a visual or audible warning. Some cars will even vibrate the seat or the steering wheel to annoy the driver into a more alert state. The latest lane-departure warning systems autonomously nudge the wheels to put the car back in the proper lane.

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Photo: Audi of America, Inc.

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Night Vision

Drivers in rural areas know this particular nightmare - driving at night during a large mammal mating season. Deer, elk, and moose don’t obey the rules of the road, and often dart out of roadside vegetation only to become a very large, damaging object for drivers to hit.

Unfortunately, this can be a problem in urban environments as well, with children darting out from behind parked cars, or bicyclists riding without lights or reflectors. Night vision technologies help avoid accidents involving man or beast. Some vehicles will use an infrared camera to detect body heat, while others will actually project infrared light onto the road ahead to illuminate those obstacles. Either technology will display the animals or people on a screen or onto a heads-up display projected on the windshield.

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Photo: American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

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Rearview Camera

Rearview cameras are invaluable for parking in tight urban environments, or for hitching up to a trailer without a second person to guide the tow vehicle to the hitch. It’s the only technology on this list that’s available both from auto manufacturers, and the aftermarket.

By 2018, all vehicles under 10,000-pound gross-vehicle weight rating are required to provide a rearview camera, because about 200 people are killed, and 14,000 are injured, each year, by cars backing over them. A camera projecting a view of the ground immediately behind the car is expected to save lives.

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Photo: Ford Motor Company

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Active Parking Assist

Parking a car in an urban environment can be immensely stressful and frustrating. Parallel parking can be so tricky that some people even refuse to do so, for fear of damaging tires and wheels on curbs, or bumping into other parked.

Cars equipped with active parking assist systems use a variety of sensors on all sides of the vehicle to electronically measure for suitable parking spaces, and upon activation, will steer the vehicle adeptly into the parking spot. Generally, the driver needs to maintain control of the brake and accelerator, to ensure that unexpected pedestrians, bicyclists, or other drivers don’t suddenly take the parking spot and cause an accident.