We’re well beyond seatbelts in today’s modern automobile technology. There are many new safety features and just cool technology that keeps coming out each year, revolutionizing our driving world.

Forward Collision Warning / Emergency Braking System

“Predictive Emergency Braking System” this new and very technologically advanced feature uses radar to scan for potential possible collisions in front of your car, and if it senses another car in front of you that you are likely to hit, the feature will alert the driver via sound and light signals, if the driver doesn’t react, then the system will activate the full braking power of your moving vehicle to slow you down or stop your car automatically.

Electronic Stability Control

This newer technology detects if your car loses its steering control, like on slippery roads, and it applies brakes on each wheel. This helps the driver steer the car in the right direction without the car skidding around and crashing into other cars, tree’s, barriers, or whatever. Understeering when the front wheels can’t grab enough traction, and oversteering is when the car turns further than the driver is moving the steering wheel; both understeering and oversteering are corrected with the ESC system. The system will use each brake on each tire individually to gain control of the car’s trajectory, and get the driver back into control to steer in the direction the driver wants to go. Each manufacturer may call it different things, like Electronic Stability Program, or Advance Trac, Vehicle Stability Assist, Stabilitrak, Porsche Stability Management, etc.

Adaptive Cruise Control

Also called Autonomous cruise control, basically it adjusts your speed for you if someone in front of you is going to slow you down out of your locked in cruise control speed. It is a safety feature that I’m sure almost all of us could have used at many times in our driving experiences, especially on long drives. You’ll get cruising along going great and then suddenly you are right up onto some slow-going out of towner, sightseeing, that is not being courteous to others in the passing lane, and you have to kill your cruise control. This feature will sense these daydreamers in front of you, and slow your car down automatically, once you have gotten around that car, you can “resume” your cruise control and keep moving happily forward.

Lane Keeping Assist System

Basically, what this feature does is it uses camera’s that are mounted in your windshield, and sometimes on different parts of your car, that look at the road. This technology will identify the different lanes in the road, and help you stay in your lane. When you start to drift in your lane, this assist can pull you back into the middle of your lane (if you aren’t signaling), or warn you that you are drifting with flashing lights or alarms, depending on what car you buy and the technology in the car make/model of car you have. The driver can override this feature.​

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Back Up Warning System

These sensors, along with a backup camera, alerts the driver if they are getting close to any obstacles behind them, so the driver can see what is behind them and avoid hitting that object. Many new cars come with these systems built in, but if your car does not have a back-up system installed, there are many systems you can buy at stores like BestBuy or Amazon or others.

Phone Apps For Distracted Driving

Majority of Car Accidents Caused By Distracted Driver
According to Eric Bolton, a spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), most car accidents are caused by a driver who was distracted. Every day, nine people die because of distracted driving, and far more have close calls because of multi-tasking behind the wheel. If you’ve ever looked around while driving, you’ve probably noticed how many people are dividing their attention between driving and texting, surfing the internet, or searching for the next song to listen to. It’s not hard to see how this habit can result in a tragedy. Fortunately, there is an increasing number of tools to help drivers stay safe and alert when driving.