Car: An Overview Of The New Advanced Features

We are in a new era of car safety:

The focus has shifted from reducing death and injury in a vehicle collision to preventing a crash from happening in the first place. Safety features designed to avoid accidents are becoming increasingly common in new cars.

Here is an overview of the advanced safety features you’re likely to encounter when shopping for a new car, along with examples of what carmakers call their versions of the features.

FORWARD COLLISION WARNING

If you come up behind a slower or stopped vehicle and don’t show signs of braking, the forward collision warning system will alert you that an impact is imminent. Some carmaker names for this feature include Predictive Forward Collision Warning (Infiniti), Forward Collision Alert (Chevrolet) and Forward Obstruction Warning (Mazda).

SHOULD YOU GET IT?

Yes. Distracted driving is at an all-time high, and this system can serve as an extra set of eyes to prevent an accident. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends the technology.

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AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING

This system will become a standard feature on nearly all cars and light trucks by 2022, thanks to an agreement among most carmakers and NHTSA. If the vehicle senses an imminent collision, the system will automatically apply the brakes to avoid or minimize an impact. It is often bundled with forward collision warning and goes by names such as City Safety automatic braking (Volvo), Low Speed Forward Automatic Braking (Cadillac) and Frontal Collision Warning with City Collision Mitigation (BMW).

SHOULD YOU GET IT?

Yes. The fact it is becoming a standard feature soon speaks to its importance.

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