For many car shoppers, the latest safety technologies are often a huge draw, and with good reason: they can help save lives by preventing or reducing the severity of crashes. But many consumers get overwhelmed by the range of options.
Earlier this month the National Safety Council and the Transportation and Vehicle Safety Research Program at the University of Iowa Public Policy Center launched a website, MyCarDoesWhat.org that aims to help educate drivers about new vehicle safety technologies and how to use them correctly.
“The fact is that safety technologies save lives, yet many drivers don’t know what they are or how to use them,” Deborah Hersman, president and chief executive officer of the National Safety Council, a nonprofit advocacy group, said in a statement. “Knowledge is power. MyCarDoesWhat.org puts motorists in the driver’s seat to make our roads safer.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), safety technologies – things like seat belts, air bags and electronic stability control - have saved more than 600,000 lives since 1960.
The new website includes educational videos and other safety information about a variety of safety technologies of systems. Some of the ones featured include:
• Back-up Camera: provides a view of the blind zone directly behind the car when the vehicle is in reverse.
• Blind Spot Monitor: alerts drivers when there may be something located in their blind spot.
• Forward Collision Warning: warns drivers when they are closing in on the vehicle ahead too quickly.
• Anti-lock Braking Systems: prevents wheels from locking up, helps avoid uncontrolled skidding and provides some steering control in slippery conditions like snow.
• Rear Cross Traffic Alert: provides an alert to the driver that traffic is approaching from the left or right when the vehicle is in reverse.
• Adaptive Cruise Control: maintains the speed set by the driver and a pre-set following distance.
• Automatic Emergency Braking Systems: automatically applies moderate to hard braking when the system detects that a collision is imminent.
• Lane Departure Warning: alerts drivers when they drift into another lane when the turn signal is not activated.
The website is part of a larger national education campaign scheduled to launch in the fall that will include research, videos, graphics, animation, a game, and an app.
For more information about the website, click here.
For a government checklist of advanced technology features demonstrated to improve safety that compares the availability across models, click here. (The site also includes NHTSA's 5-Star Safety Ratings, which measure the crashworthiness and rollover safety of vehicles.)
