Today’s cars have become tremendously safe, with passive and active safety systems ensuring that a vehicle’s occupants are saved from injury in the event of an accident. What were once thought of as high-tech innovations – seatbelts, to anti-lock braking systems, to airbags – have become commonplace. Electronics, sensors and miniaturization have contributed to great leaps forward in vehicle safety, and several systems are now considered must-haves for a car to be considered safe. These include:
- Forward collision systems – at the very least, these sensors emit audiovisual warnings of an impending collision; more advanced systems activate the braking system.
- Lane departure warning systems – uses cameras to track your vehicle between lanes, and sounds a warning if you start drifting left or right. An evolution of this system is the lane keep assist system that actively steers a vehicle back onto a lane when it senses significant drift.
- Backup camera – a rear-mounted camera automatically turns on when reverse is engaged, and feeds the multifunction display on your dash to show a field of view behind the vehicle.
- Stability control – works with the vehicle’s brakes and traction control system to detect slippage. Has been credited with significant reductions in rollover crashes.
- Adaptive headlights – headlights that direct its beams in the direction of a turn for safer turning in the dark.
- Automated parallel parking – uses proximity sensors to offer hands-free parking on a driving maneuver that can stump even experienced drivers.
- Blind spot monitoring systems – uses cameras and other vehicle sensors to warn you of vehicles coming up on the vehicle’s blind spot.
- Automated crash notification – detects when a vehicle is involved in a crash and notifies first responders.
In addition to these active systems, continuous research and innovation in the field of vehicle safety have produced energy absorbing crumple zones, shatter resistant glass, and seatbelts that tighten when an impending crash is detected.
Despite the plethora of safety features vehicles have these days, the most important component of a vehicle is the driver and making sure they have car insurance in El Paso. All these safety systems have been invented and evolved to protect the car’s occupants from injury or death. Unfortunately, the driver is the weakest link in the safety chain. The crashes that occur on roads on a daily basis attest to this. Until driverless cars become an everyday thing, it falls upon the driver of a vehicle to be aware of his or her surroundings when driving, and to realize the huge responsibility of being in control of a vehicle.
Contact Grindell & Romero Insurance if you are looking for insurance in El Paso.