Vehicle safety features moms love

The latest technology is impressive — and worth it for your family.

If you’re driving an older car, you may not be aware of newer safety features on vehicles these days as car safety technology improves every year. For moms looking to keep their families safe on the road, explore these latest improvements as defined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Collision warning

• Forward collision warning: The car’s system warns you of an impending crash.

• Lane departure warning: This alerts you if the vehicle is drifting.

• Rear cross traffic warning: An alert for when driving in reverse.

• Blindspot warning: Warns you of other cars or objects in adjacent lanes and spaces that you might not be able to see.

Collision intervention

• Automatic emergency braking (AEB; sometimes called dynamic braking): When the car’s sensors detect an imminent forward crash, it automatically applies the brakes.

• Pedestrian automatic emergency braking: When sensors detect a pedestrian in your path, it applies automatic braking.

• Rear automatic braking: Using parking sensors and the backup camera, the system applies the brakes when the car is in reverse if it detects a collision.

• Blind spot intervention: If you ignore a blind spot warning and start to change lanes into another vehicle, the system applies braking and/or steering to put you back in your original lane.

Drive control assistance

• Adaptive cruise control: Adjusts your speed to keep a pre-set distance between you and the car in front of you.

• Lane centering assistance: Monitors and automatically applies steering needed to keep your car centered within its lane.

• Lane keeping assistance: In coordination with lane departure warning sensors, the system corrects the steering, brakes or uses acceleration, or uses a combination of all of these, to keep you on your path of travel.

Other systems

• Automatic high beams: Based on lighting conditions and traffic, the car automatically switches between low and high headlight beams.

• Backup camera: Now required on vehicles 2018 and newer, preventing backover crashes.

• Automatic crash notification: If an airbag has deployed, or there was sudden, dramatic deceleration, the system alerts an operator who can communicate with the driver.

Note that these terms are general ones, and may be worded differently by manufacturers. There are also other features that increase safety, like facial recognition software that alerts to distracted driving, or traffic sign recognition/speed alerts, child presence detection for children left inside

a vehicle, and more.

We welcome you and your family to shop and test drive with us, even if you’re just casually looking at the moment. We’re happy to answer any questions you may have. We know there’s a lot to learn with new technology, and we’re here to help.

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Brought to you by:

Stacie Fallau

Celebrating two years at Capitol, Stacie has grown from a role at the Contracts Desk into a dynamic position that supports multiple teams. She says, “The variety and collaboration in this role have made it especially rewarding.” Outside of work, family life is just as fulfilling with two children, Hali’a, age 18, who also works at Capitol, and Logan, age 21. Together, they enjoy exploring new restaurants, attending concerts, playing games and taking scenic road trips.