There’s a lot to think about when buying a new car, such as its make, model, year, size, and color scheme. However, one more thing that can be worth considering is its safety features. There are more than six million car accidents in the United States annually.
Studies show that safety features may be able to reduce your risk of injury or even getting into an accident in the first place. Here are just a few of the many worth considering.
Traction Control
Ask any accident attorney, and they’ll tell you that no amount of safety features can prevent every single accident from happening. However, traction control can prove useful in challenging driving conditions. This electronically controlled system is designed to limit wheel spin while you accelerate to gain maximum traction.
It can also prove useful for gaining grip in wet and icy conditions. In most cars, the traction control system works by using the antilock brake system to brake a spinning wheel.
Antilock Brake System (ABS)
Many drivers are familiar with the terrifying moment when heavy braking to avoid a collision resulted in all four wheels locking up and losing the ability to turn. Most modern cars and even bikes now have ABS, which prevents this from being a problem.
With sensors on each wheel, a computer talks to the wheels to maximize the amount of braking they can do. This process prevents all four wheels from locking up and gives you full control over the steering.
Advanced Seatbelts
It doesn’t matter how luxurious or basic your vehicle is; seatbelts are a must-have feature that has been installed in every car since the late 1960s. In recent years, though, seatbelt technology has improved exponentially.
You can now purchase vehicles with seatbelts featuring pretensioners to take up slack and adjustable upper anchors to prevent neck injuries. Some vehicles even have inflatable seat belts in the rear seats to distribute force.
Accident-Avoidance Systems
Even if you’ve had previous success working with accident attorneys to receive compensation for car accident injuries, you’re likely not in a hurry to put yourself in that position again. By purchasing safe vehicles with accident-avoidance systems, you may be able to reduce your risk of an accident.
These systems are designed to alert you to possible accident risks and do so in several ways. They can detect pedestrians and rear traffic, warn you of blind spots, and even provide forward-collision warnings and automatic emergency braking. You may not be able to prevent every accident, but safety systems like these may be able to reduce the risk quite significantly.
Electronic Stability Control
Even though traction control can offer drivers much-needed peace of mind, electronic stability control takes that confidence one step further. This system helps keep your vehicle on the road during turning maneuvers to stop it from skidding or sliding.
Computers and sensors are able to detect your rotation, sideways motion, steering angle, and wheel speed, to make this possible. It’s an especially popular safety feature in pick-up trucks and other top-heavy vehicles.
No one ever wants to find themselves involved in a severe accident that sees the need for legal assistance. While vehicle safety features can’t prevent accidents, they can go a long way toward prevention and reduced injury risk.
