The 5 Most Important Car Safety Features
Car Safety Features That Everyone Should Know Whether you are looking into buying a new or used vehicle it's critical to take a little time ensuring all the important car safety features are fitted.
Before you do anything take it for a test drive and check that the seat belt fits well.
Also check that your ability to see clearly is not inhibited by the windscreen design, roof structure or head rests.
Here are the 5 most important features to look out for: 1.
Airbags: Depending on the speed at impact and how solid the object struck, front air bags will inflate to stop the driver and passengers from slamming into the steering wheel, dash, and windscreen.
Side air bags reduce the risk that occupants will hit the door or objects that crash through it.
Children can be killed or gravely injured by an air bag, so you should always put passengers age 12 and under in the rear seats.
Never install a rear-facing child seat in the front seat of a car equipped with a front passenger air bag unless the air bag has been disengaged.
2.
Anti-Lock Braking (ABS) An antilock brake system (ABS) inhibits a vehicle's wheels from locking during "scare" braking, allowing the driver to maintain better control over the steering.
This is a key component of averting an accident.
However, an ABS does not guarantee your capacity to avoid a collision.
Furthermore, you still may lose control when driving at extreme speeds or when using exaggerated steering measures.
Learning to use the ABS correctly will yield the ultimate benefit of the ABS system.
3.
Traction Control Traction control systems improve your cars stability by controlling the amount the drive wheels can slip when you apply excess power.
The system automatically adjusts the engine power output and, in some systems, applies braking force to selected wheels during acceleration.
Traction control is mainly found in vehicles with four-wheel antilock brake systems (See ABS above).
4.
Electronic Stability Control (ESC) ESC is intended to help drivers maintain control of the car during extreme steering manoeuvres.
The system senses when a vehicle is about to slide or spin and automatically engages the brake on a single or multiple wheels.
The ESC is meant to reduce the chance of a crash in which a vehicle veers off the road and strikes a curb or guardrail guard or other objects that cause rollovers.
Unfortunately it won't keep a vehicle on the road if its speed is simply too great for a particular curve given the available traction.
5.
All-Wheel Drive Systems (AWD) All-wheel drive distributes power to both front and rear wheels to maximize traction.
Unless combined with traction control (see above), AWD systems do not prevent the drive wheels (front or rear) from spinning when you apply too much power during acceleration.
These are some of the most important car safety features to check for next time you are looking for a replacement or upgrade to your existing motor vehicle.
One final tip - try and arrange a test drive at night so you can check the vehicles head lights and visibility in poor light conditions.
Before you do anything take it for a test drive and check that the seat belt fits well.
Also check that your ability to see clearly is not inhibited by the windscreen design, roof structure or head rests.
Here are the 5 most important features to look out for: 1.
Airbags: Depending on the speed at impact and how solid the object struck, front air bags will inflate to stop the driver and passengers from slamming into the steering wheel, dash, and windscreen.
Side air bags reduce the risk that occupants will hit the door or objects that crash through it.
Children can be killed or gravely injured by an air bag, so you should always put passengers age 12 and under in the rear seats.
Never install a rear-facing child seat in the front seat of a car equipped with a front passenger air bag unless the air bag has been disengaged.
2.
Anti-Lock Braking (ABS) An antilock brake system (ABS) inhibits a vehicle's wheels from locking during "scare" braking, allowing the driver to maintain better control over the steering.
This is a key component of averting an accident.
However, an ABS does not guarantee your capacity to avoid a collision.
Furthermore, you still may lose control when driving at extreme speeds or when using exaggerated steering measures.
Learning to use the ABS correctly will yield the ultimate benefit of the ABS system.
3.
Traction Control Traction control systems improve your cars stability by controlling the amount the drive wheels can slip when you apply excess power.
The system automatically adjusts the engine power output and, in some systems, applies braking force to selected wheels during acceleration.
Traction control is mainly found in vehicles with four-wheel antilock brake systems (See ABS above).
4.
Electronic Stability Control (ESC) ESC is intended to help drivers maintain control of the car during extreme steering manoeuvres.
The system senses when a vehicle is about to slide or spin and automatically engages the brake on a single or multiple wheels.
The ESC is meant to reduce the chance of a crash in which a vehicle veers off the road and strikes a curb or guardrail guard or other objects that cause rollovers.
Unfortunately it won't keep a vehicle on the road if its speed is simply too great for a particular curve given the available traction.
5.
All-Wheel Drive Systems (AWD) All-wheel drive distributes power to both front and rear wheels to maximize traction.
Unless combined with traction control (see above), AWD systems do not prevent the drive wheels (front or rear) from spinning when you apply too much power during acceleration.
These are some of the most important car safety features to check for next time you are looking for a replacement or upgrade to your existing motor vehicle.
One final tip - try and arrange a test drive at night so you can check the vehicles head lights and visibility in poor light conditions.
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