- Lane Departure Warning System. Do you know anybody who seems to think that the steering wheel is the perfect place to be doing all the multi-tasking? I do. She’ll have her cell phone on one ear, a notebook and pen in the hand that isn’t on the steering wheel (if there’s a hand on the steering wheel at all), and be reading spelling words off to some kid in the back seat of the car while rooting in a bag for nail clippers or something. It’s terrifying. Lane departure warning systems are great for people like this, but they help the rest of us, too. They’re pretty complicated, and most manufacturers install them with cameras and other data to inform drivers when their vehicle starts heading into another lane. The camera picks up the view on both sides of the car. Some cars will have an alarm, others a flashing light.
- Smart Seat Belts. These are similar to the headrests, or head restraints, in make, and are a great improvement on one of the oldest and most common safety features in the book. Smart seat belts don’t really come into effect until you get into a car crash. They are made in a tense manner, and even the seat that the passenger is sitting on has a certain shape that helps it react to a collision more easily. Smart seat belts came out in 2003 from Mercedes Benz, who put them in their S-Class models. They’re still pretty rare, though you can see them in a few Infiniti, Honda, and Mazda.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.