While we are seemingly far away from mesmerising flying vehicles and robot-assisted automobiles, car safety technology continues to advance as we witness the wonders of what the future holds in the world of driving.

Many vehicle features have contributed to car safety technology in recent years, and there are many more innovative contributions to come. Here are just some exciting updates we expect to see from 2022 onwards.

Adaptive Cruise Control

Cruise control is not a new car safety feature but continues to thrive and keep people safe from speeding. Adaptive cruise control enables users to choose the speed they want to drive and maintain it while utilising sensors and cameras to detect potential vehicles ahead, causing the car to slow down automatically.

Adaptive cruise control is perfect for those who spend countless hours driving on the motorway. The system is designed to work with the road and adapt speeds depending on your selected options, and, sometimes, it will pick up on speed limit road signs.

Blind Spot Monitoring

Blind spots and the inability to see other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists are many causes of most road traffic accidents. Blind spot monitoring is a feature that uses a set of sensors attached to the side mirrors or the rear bumper to detect vehicles or other road users of the driver’s sight. Most of these systems will use small flashing light indicators in your mirrors to alert you that it is not yet safe to switch lanes.

Autonomous Emergency Braking

You will find that many new cars will feature autonomous emergency braking as a valuable safety accessory. However, it is worth checking as some models will not include this feature due to how expensive it is to install in comparison to the vehicle price. Autonomous braking systems require sensors and cameras to view the road ahead, alerting the driver, often via a flashing icon on the dashboard accompanied by an alarm, of an imminent crash.

If the driver fails to brake, the AEB system will automatically emergency stop to prevent dangerous impact – ideal for motorway drivers and those who drive slower routes. A lower speed can stop a potential accident entirely.

Lane Keeping Assist

Lane Keeping Assist warns drivers when they accidentally leave their lane but will also take action to keep the vehicle in the correct perimeters. Depending on the manufacturer, the car will beep, present a dashboard warning or vibrate the steering wheel. If no action occurs, the system will take control of the steering wheel and brakes to correct the positioning.

Lane Departure Warning

A Lane Departure Warning is not the same as Lane Keeping Assist. The system will warn you when you are drifting out of your lane without indicating other drivers but will not actively take control of the vehicle to keep it in one lane as the LKA system would.

Automatic high beams

Many drivers will know the difficulty of switching to and from high beams to dipped headlights to avoid blinding oncoming vehicles at night. An automatic high beam system will switch between the two as soon as it senses the rear lights of a car in front and any traffic that drives towards the vehicle.

Night vision

Many luxury car manufacturers such as BMW and Audi are adopting state of the art features such as night vision assistance for their vehicles. This feature uses an infrared camera, which senses objects ahead that would often be out of sight during the night. These systems can help notice pedestrians, animals or cyclists up to 200 metres ahead, alerting the driver through images on the digital display.

Rear and front cross alert

While this car safety technology system has been around for a long time now, rear and front cross alert is still a prominent feature available in most new cars today. Many drivers find that after using this feature, they find parking and reversing ten times easier and safer. A front cross alert is perfect for those who often drive out of side roads where visibility is restricted. Cross alert technology supports drivers through blind spots and unknown obstructions.

While car safety technology can assist drivers on safer travels, the real journey begins with better, cautious driving. Drivetech offers training services to help companies manage their driver risk and keep people safe at work – saving lives, saving money and protecting your reputation.

Driving is a dangerous activity that many of your employees will do every day, so leaving driver safety to chance is unacceptable. We provide a powerful range of digital, on-road and workshop based driver training products to help your drivers make better decisions behind the wheel. Get in touch with us today to learn more.

Drivetech produces a range of whitepapers and one, in particular, looks at many of the safety accessories and in-vehicle features coming through on newer vehicles. Whilst the technology landscape is changing all the time, this blog and our additional whitepaper provide a useful guide on the safety tech that is out there. See the whitepaper here.


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