New 2019 Driver Safety Technologies
There are a lot of new technologies being used in cars to make them safer for drivers. Advancements have been underway for decades in the physical design of vehicles to make them safer, but recently there have been significant breakthroughs in sensor and monitoring based safety systems. Here are some of the more important advancements.
Chevrolet Teen Driver Buckle
Chevrolet recently announced new software in their vehicles that can be configured to disable a vehicle from being driven until the driver buckles up. Research shows that many teens rarely or never buckle up when driving. Wearing a seatbelt in the front of a car reduces the chance of fatality in an accident by 45%.
Automatic Braking
Many car and truck manufacturers have integrated automatic braking systems into their new models over the past several years. These systems automatically sense if a car is coming to a stop ahead and brake in an emergency.
Blind Spot Monitoring
These systems utilize a suite of sensors to monitor regions along the side and behind a vehicle and then show a notification light in the respective mirror if a car is detected. This ensures that a driver will be notified if a car is near, even if the car is in a blind spot.
Self-driving
More cars are developing autonomous driving technologies. Companies like Tesla and Cadillac are heavily pushing driving assistance technologies like automatic lane keeping and even autonomous highway driving. Tesla cars can even change lanes on highways without driver input. The cars still require drivers to be alert and will prompt drivers to provide input if they remain inactive too long. Overall the technology provides a second safety layer for highway driving.
Backup Cameras
Backup cameras have become standard on vehicles over the past several years and as of April 2019 all new cars in the United States are required to have them. They help drivers see behind them even when rear windows are high off the ground. This is especially important when young children are around as they are often hard to see when behind a vehicle.
Teen Driver Monitoring
Many manufacturers including GM, Chevrolet, and more have apps and monitoring tools that allow parents to actively monitor teen driving behavior. Parents can monitor things like top speed and even prevent teens from listening to the radio while driving.
Consider these safety features when purchasing a car. Some features like driver and vehicle monitoring can be easily added to older cars as well. Teen drivers can especially benefit from monitor systems that track top speeds and more.
Our experience at Colonial Driving School is that these technologies can be helpful when integrated into a habit of defensive driving, but they can actually create new problems in students who haven’t been properly taught to drive defensively. Next month we will have a blog on the primacy of defensive driving over technology for the safety of your teen behind the wheel. Stay tuned!