Car accidents are a common occurrence, and they can be deadly. Cars become safer as time passes, however, with the implementation of various safety features over the years. Seatbelts, traction control, blind spot detection, and more were all invented to provide safer vehicles that kill far less often in accidents. Vehicle safety still has a long way to go, but the latest advancements are impressive, to say the least.
Car Safety Features
Safety features in cars are a necessity. With so many vehicles on the road, car accidents are common, including deadly ones. In 2023, 140 people involved in car accidents died in Nashville, Tennessee alone. Imagine how many accident deaths occur throughout the world. Safety features prevent even more deaths, and the automotive industry is continuously developing added features and structural changes to further reduce these numbers.
Earlier Safety Features
Vehicle safety has to start somewhere. Before 1985, vehicles weren’t even required to have seatbelts! With the introduction of the first basic safety features, vehicles started to become safer and stronger in accidents.
Airbags
Airbags weren’t standard in vehicles until the late 1990s. They were designed to create an inflatable cushion for impact in a car accident as opposed to the vehicle’s harder surfaces. The head and chest require a lot of protection and are susceptible to deadly injury. Airbags inflate incredibly quickly to prevent these head and chest collisions, but they are not meant for small children.
Seatbelts
When a car accident occurs, the vehicle’s sudden impact causes a sudden stop. This can thrust drivers and passengers from their vehicles, often fatally. A seatbelt serves to prevent this from occurring by keeping the passenger in their seat with a strap. Seatbelts were invented in the 1800s, but the modern three-point seatbelt for an automobile was not created until 1959! In modern times, it is illegal to not wear a seatbelt in most states.
Advanced Safety Features
Since the invention of the modern automobile, safety features have changed as technology advances. These serve to prevent an accident or keep an accident from being deadly as much as possible.
Traction Control Systems
Drivers often lose control of a vehicle when driving in rain, ice, or other slick substances. Traction control is a feature where sensors keep wheels from losing traction in hazardous road conditions. This occurs by the vehicle’s electronic system applying a brake to the affected wheels or cutting engine power to it, reducing its impact.
Anti-Lock Braking
When a vehicle engages in an emergency brake, wheels often lock up, making them impossible to control. Anti-lock braking was invented to prevent this, allowing a driver to continue to maneuver their vehicle even in emergency braking scenarios.
Car Structure
As technology has advanced with safety testing, the structural integrity of vehicles has significantly changed. Vehicle materials are stronger in key areas of the vehicle, known as safety cells, to protect the cabin in an accident. Crumple zones play a similar role; these areas take most of the momentum and energy from an impact as opposed to the cabin. These structural improvements can prevent significant injury or death.
Driving Convenience and Safety Features
Some vehicle features, while ultimately safety features, also provide some added convenience to driving, such as cruise control.
Lane Maintenance
Safety features have recently been added to help keep drivers in their lane. Lane departure warnings help aid drivers by alerting them when they are drifting from their lane. Lane keep assist can help steer a car back into the lane when enabled.
Cruise Control
Cruise control helps a driver maintain a specific speed without requiring the use of the accelerator pedal. This can help reduce driver fatigue, especially during long trips. Updates to cruise control technology can automatically help the vehicle maintain a safe distance from other drivers and adjust speed depending on traffic and speed limits.
Newer Vehicle Technology
Over the past two decades, technology has advanced rather quickly, allowing for impressive safety features to be added to many new vehicles.
Blind Spot Detection
Blind spot detectors help become a second pair of eyes for drivers and alert when an object, vehicle, or person is in the way of the vehicle. Blind spots are notorious for causing many collisions, as they’re difficult to see past.
Reverse Cameras
Small cameras are installed in the back of the vehicle to assist with reversing. Drivers can see objects behind them on their dashboard while reversing to prevent accidents, even without looking behind them.
Automatic Emergency Braking
In situations where a driver isn’t able to react in time for a collision, automatic emergency braking will apply the brakes to prevent an accident in their stead.
The Future of Vehicle Safety
Vehicle safety technology doesn’t stop with the above systems. Currently, vehicles are being tested with automated driving features to help assist drivers with operating their vehicles. Some vehicles are being equipped with full automation, such as delivery vehicles. Vehicle telematics serve to track driving quality and driver impairment to report to authorities and family members, provide feedback to newer drivers, and enable driver-assist technologies.
Conclusion
Car safety features are constantly updated to prevent deadly accidents. With car accidents being a common occurrence, the automotive industry uses technology and testing to provide structurally safer vehicles with accident prevention and management technologies. From the implementation of the seatbelt all the way to fully automated driving technology, safety features will continuously be added to our cars.
