5 Tech Features That Improve Car Safety



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.

As what was once cutting-edge technology becomes standard, researchers are developing more devices to keep drivers safe and help prevent car crashes.

Here is an overview of the advanced safety features you're likely to encounter when shopping for a new car.


1. Emergency Brake Assist

Brake assist is an active vehicle safety feature designed to help drivers come to a stop more quickly during an episode of emergency braking.

If the vehicle senses an imminent collision, the system will automatically apply the brakes to avoid or minimize an impact.

Studies have shown that most drivers do not press the brake fast enough or hard enough to make full use of their vehicle’s braking power. So, Brake assist is designed to recognize the tell-tale signs of emergency braking and provide drivers with extra brake support.

Brake assist usually works in combination with anti-lock braking systems (ABS) to enables threshold braking without locking up the wheels.


2. Foward 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.

Forward-collision warning uses cameras, radar or laser to scan for cars ahead and alert the driver if they are approaching a vehicle in their lane too fast.

Most systems alert the driver with some sort of visual and or audible signal to a potential crash, allowing time for you to react.


3. Adaptive Cruise Control

Adaptive cruise control is one of those features where once you experience it, you never want to go back.

Adaptive cruise control lets the driver set a travelling speed and automatically maintain a constant distance from the car ahead. When the car ahead gets closer, your car slows down on its own. When the car ahead speeds up, so do you.

Adaptive cruise control systems rely on radar sensors built into the front of the car. Thus, it keep a constant distance between you and the car ahead, automatically maintaining a safe following distance.


4. Blind – Spot Monitoring

Even the most fastidious driver can have the occasional near-miss accident when changing lanes by not seeing another car in their blind spot.

Using radar or cameras, this system illuminates a light or icon in or adjacent to the outside mirrors to warn that another vehicle is lurking in the lane beside, possibly hidden in your car's blind spot.

If the driver somehow doesn’t see the visual notification and signals a lane change regardless, a beeping audio alert warns them of the danger.


5. Lane Departure Warning

Lane-keeping assist is a step up from lane-departure warning (different companies use different names for their features), which uses cameras to keep track of the lines on the road and warns you – by emitting a beep, or vibrating the seat or steering wheel – when you’ve crossed them without putting your signals on.

While collision avoidance technology has so far proved capable of dramatically reducing the number and severity of crashes, it is far from perfect. Even state-of-the-art automatic emergency braking or lane-keeping systems are intended as a backup, a last line of defence for when a driver makes a mistake.


Malayalam motors Skoda is an authorized dealer of Skoda Auto in Kerala.


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