Self-driving cars may be in our future, but until that day arrives, car makers are manufacturing vehicles with increasingly sophisticated technology designed to keep drivers, passengers, and pedestrians safer. Here’s a look at some of our favorite features that help you stay safe on the road.
It’s okay to zone out when you’re watching TV, but if you lose focus while driving, you’re more likely to get in an accident. Automatic emergency braking helps you stay safe on the road by using sensors to detect when objects in front of your vehicle get a little too close for comfort. If the system perceives that you might crash, it applies the brakes automatically. This can lessen the impact of a collision or prevent it altogether.
With the use of forward-facing sensors, cars with adaptive cruise control let you drive down the highway with less stress. This safety feature automatically changes your car’s speed to match the vehicle in front of you, up to your chosen maximum miles per hour.
For some time now, luxury cars have offered an alert in the form of a buzzer or vibrating seat if the vehicle starts wandering over the line. However, with more advanced lane-keep assist technology, the steering wheel turns itself to re-center the car in the lane.
No amount of twisting and turning in your seat can fully eliminate the blind spot behind your vehicle. Blind spot detection uses sensors and cameras to monitor the road on either side of your car. If you turn on your blinker while another vehicle is present, the system sounds an alarm to alert you. Some cars also feature a dashboard or side-mirror display that lets you double-check your blind spot when you turn on your blinker without craning your neck.
The inability to see behind your rear tires while backing up can have deadly consequences. Fortunately, backup cameras, which have been an available feature for years now, eliminate this blind spot and allow you to reverse with confidence.
Backup cameras are useful for spotting obstructions immediately behind your car, but what about when you’re backing out of a parking spot onto a busy road? Rear cross-traffic assist provides a visual and audio warning if another car is approaching to help you stay safe on the road.
Do you get hot under the collar just thinking about parallel parking or backing up into a parking spot? With reverse park assist, the vehicle steers itself into position, making parking lot bumps and scrapes a thing of the past.
You may be accustomed to feeling blind when going around the bend of a winding mountain road, but adaptive headlights change this. They swivel and rotate to face the direction you’re steering, improving poor visibility on curves.
When driving at night, distant objects remain hidden until your headlights reach them. This could be problematic on country roads where you may not see wildlife in front of you until it’s too late. Active night vision systems illuminate objects beyond your headlights with infrared light, displaying an image on the dashboard for you to view. Passive systems detect thermal radiation from objects in front of you, including cars, pedestrians, and animals. Both systems help you stay safe on the road.
This popular feature found on many new cars today can help you stay safe on the road by controlling the engine and brakes in a way that helps mitigate the effects of a skid when driving on icy roads. It can even detect when a skid is likely to happen and take steps to prevent it.
Your car may not be able to drive itself, but it probably has at least a few of these technologies designed to help you stay safe on the road. To make sure your car continues driving smoothly, keep it tuned up with services from Scott’s Fort Collins Auto. Whether you need a simple oil change or a complete engine overhaul, we have you covered!
To schedule your appointment, please call us at (970) 682-4202 or contact us online. You can also stop in for services whenever it’s convenient for you.
