For over a century, the capability of your vehicle to keep you safe was measured by the presence of seatbelts, frame reinforcements, and the addition of mirror and wiper systems. In the past decade, thanks to the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, vehicles are safer than ever before.
Not only are most vehicles designed to protect you in a crash, but they also help you to avoid collisions before they happen. Features like airbags, anti-locking brakes, and backup cameras are pretty standard modern safety equipment in every vehicle.
Auto insurance companies will give you a discount on your premiums if your vehicle has some of the newest safety features that will protect you and your car in an accident. Let’s take a look at some of the most innovative safety features that could be available in your next vehicle.
Crash Avoidance
Most vehicles now have available safety features like lane-drift alerts, blind spot warnings, and automatic braking systems that will apply your brakes up to 100% if it senses that you are about to hit someone or something in front of you. While these systems seem futuristic, they are real and in many cars of today. There has even been discussion in the legislature of making these types of safety systems mandatory for all vehicles. Most common accidents could be avoided by the regular use of these technologies.
In the future, your car will be able to auto-adjust your mirrors to properly see your blind spots, and give you a warning if another vehicle enters that space. You could also have the cameras on your vehicle detect when you are drifting out of your lane or not paying attention to the road and give you an alert.
Augmented Windshields
Some cars already use projection technology to display car information and safety data to your windshield. While this isn’t yet a standard feature, it won’t be long until the technology is found everywhere. Imagine your whole windshield being turned into a screen that helps you see the road better and displays everything you need to know about traffic and weather conditions, your speed, and your vehicle data. Some innovative projects in the works include a night vision feature that helps make night driving safer.
Self Driving
You may have a car, or know someone who has one that will parallel park itself. This unique spatial measurement technology is now being expanded to allow for a vehicle to drive itself anywhere. There are already drone cars out on the road being used as delivery vehicles. Using radar technology, intelligent sensors, and a series of onboard cameras, it’s possible that your car will be able to drive you to work in the near future.
Traffic Alerts
If you use a GPS system, you may already be getting traffic and weather alerts through your smartphone. Many new cars with a built-in GPS mapping system now will let you know when there is an accident or backed up traffic ahead and provide you with an alternate route to save you time.
We may not be very close to having flying cars streaking through the skies, but the level of advancement in the safety technology in our vehicles has still come through leaps and bounds in the past decade. You will be looking forward to seeing what new safety features will be included in your next vehicle that will help you drive into the future.
