Since the invention of the automobile in the late 1800s, progress in car safety hasn't always come swiftly. The familiar three-point seat belt didn't appear until 1959, and the first air bag hit the market in 1973.
Today, however, we're in the midst of a remarkable, technology-driven renaissance in car safety, with developments coming so fast it's hard to keep up. Here's a guide to many of the latest advances in today's safety-feature landscape.
Accident-avoidance safety features
Modern vehicle technology isn't just about keeping you and your passengers safe in a collision. It may even help you avoid accidents in the first place.
Anti-lock braking system
To steer your car where you want to go, you need traction. But if you brake while driving in slick or icy conditions, your wheels could lock up and cause your vehicle to skid. Anti-lock braking systems, or ABS, help prevent your wheels from locking up so you can regain traction and steer to safety.
Here's a tip: If your car doesn't have ABS, you can pump the brakes to restore traction when your car begins skidding.
Adaptive cruise control
Cruise control maintains a safe, steady speed while driving. But there's no guarantee that other drivers on the road will keep their speed consistent, too.
Adaptive cruise control enables you to set your car's speed. It then actively maintains a safe following distance by slowing down if necessary. Some systems can even stop the vehicle if traffic comes to a standstill and then return back to the targeted speed when traffic allows it.
Adaptive headlights
When driving in the dark, light is essential to help you see where you're going and spot potential hazards. But if your headlights only point forward, you may not get the illumination you need as you approach a sharp turn or hill.
Adaptive headlights can shift left, right, up or down, so light stays pointed on the road as you go around turns or over hills.
Automatic emergency braking
It only takes a few seconds of distraction for a collision to happen. But if your car is equipped with automatic emergency braking, or AEB, it can detect possible forward crashes. First, the system will alert you, and then it'll automatically apply the brake if you don't brake fast or hard enough.
Blind spot warning
Checking your blind spot is an important part of safe, defensive driving. The blind spot warning, or BWS, feature acts as a second pair of eyes that can alert you to the presence of objects in the area that's not visible through your side-view mirrors.
Driver assist safety features
Perhaps the most effective tool for accident avoidance is an alert driver. These features help drivers stay alert, avoid distractions and maneuver safely.
- Drowsiness detection. Encourages you to stop and take a break by using data from the car, like the frequency with which you stray from the center of your lane.
- Head-up display. Puts speed, navigation, directions and other key data in your line of sight so you don't have to look away from the road.
- Lane-centering assist (LCA). Provides ongoing steering to keep your vehicle in its lane.
- Lane-change warning. Cautions you if you signal for a lane change while there's another vehicle in the blind spot.
- Lane-departure warning (LDW). Alerts you when you drift over lane markers.
- Lane-keeping assist (LKA). Automatically steers the vehicle to prevent lane drifting.
Electronic stability control
If you swerve to avoid a crash or misjudge a turn, it's easy to lose traction — and control. As a result, your vehicle may "spin out" or "plow out."
Electronic stability control, or ESC, detects a lack of traction during extreme steering maneuvers and helps keep your vehicle moving in the intended direction.
Forward collision warning
If you're approaching another car or object, forward collision warning, or FCW, provides a visual and audio warning of an impending crash.
Left-turn crash avoidance
Unprotected left turns — and even protected ones — can be dangerous. Designed for low-speed turns at traffic lights and intersections, the left-turn crash avoidance feature warns you if you're turning in front of another car.
Pedestrian detection
Detecting cars is one thing, but what about people? Cars enabled with pedestrian detection use sensors to alert you to pedestrians crossing your vehicle's path. Some systems will even brake automatically.
Driver and passenger safety features
Keeping people safe while they're in your car — whether you're in an accident or not — is another important responsibility as a driver.
Airbags
Perhaps the most well-known safety feature, airbags reduce injury by rapidly inflating to cushion drivers and passengers in a crash. But did you know that your car may have more airbags than just the one in the steering wheel and dashboard or glove compartment? Airbags can also be located in the seats, roof, door panel and even seatbelts, providing stronger protection for drivers and passengers.
Cabin camera
If you've ever had children in your car, you probably understand the value of a cabin camera. This feature allows you to observe what's happening in the backseat without having to turn around — and turn your back to the road ahead.
Rear seat reminder system
You may have heard devastating stories of drivers who have walked away from their vehicle, forgetting about a child or pet in the back seat. A rear seat reminder system could help prevent these types of tragedies by issuing an alert if the driver opened a rear door prior to driving.
Interior trunk release
In the event of an emergency, glow-in-the-dark levers can be used to open the trunk from the inside. Interior trunk release systems have been required in all cars manufactured since 2002 but be aware that older cars may not be equipped with this life-saving feature.
Parking car safety features
Parking may not be a major threat to your physical safety, but it's a common culprit behind fender benders and other accidents.
Parking assist
No one likes parallel parking, but if your car is equipped with parking assist, you don't have to worry about it. This handy feature uses sensors to automatically parallel park your vehicle.
360-degree camera parking
Whether you're trying to squeeze into a narrow parking slot or avoid hitting your kids' favorite toys on the way out of the driveway, 360-degree camera parking can help. Using multiple cameras, this feature gives you a bird's-eye view of your car and its surroundings, so you can avoid unfortunate accidents and vehicle damage.
Safe driving apps
Modern safe driving features can be lifesavers for drivers and their passengers. They can even qualify you for some sweet auto insurance discounts. But the most important thing any driver can do to keep passengers safe is, well, drive safely.
Safe driving apps aren't a car safety feature, but they can help you develop safer driving habits — and even save money.
USAA SafePilot
You can see how well you're driving and how you can improve, using your phone's GPS and built-in sensors, along with our mobile app, the USAA SafePilot® program. The app captures your personal driving data and then reports the behavior back to USAA. USAA then uses the information to calculate a “driving score” — and award any earned discounts for driving safely to your next insurance premium. Some USAA drivers see discounts of up to 30% See note 1 on their policies for good driving.
Save money on your auto insurance.
Find out how you can save up to 30% See note 1 on your USAA Auto Insurance premium for being a safe driver through the USAA SafePilot program.