TECHNOLOGY has advanced in cars over the years to keep motorists safe.
What many drivers may not know is that most safety features do not work if not used correctly or without the use of other safety features.
This requires a driver to fully understand the benefits of their car’s technology and what it needs to work properly.
1. Seatbelts and Airbags
MasterDrive CEO Eugene Herbert said most people should know that airbags cannot function properly without seatbelts.
“In most cars with airbags, it will likely still deploy in a crash. As a result, the airbag will collide with you at approximately 300km/h without a safety belt to reduce this impact,” Herbert said.
“Newer cars, particularly in first world countries, are investigating and experimenting with technology that deactivates airbags if the car senses a seatbelt hasn’t been clicked in. It is also very difficult to drive without a seatbelt due to the warning signals and some cars even prevent starting without a seatbelt,” added Herbert.
He also said this is reserved for higher-end cars and people also, unfortunately, find ways around this. Therefore, not using a seatbelt can either make your airbags a hazard or remove their use altogether.
2. Adaptive Cruise Control and Speed
Adaptive cruise control is still a fairly new technology in Mzansi. It is a more enhanced version of cruise control that uses sensors to calculate and maintain a pre-selected following distance from cars ahead of you.
It removes the need to continuously brake and then reset the system.
“Recent studies, however, find that drivers tend to speed more when using it as they set their speeds higher. This has resulted in a 10% higher risk of being in a fatal crash when using ACC because they are speeding,” Herbert said.
Therefore, ACC both removes an irritation of cruise control and can provide extra safety benefits.
It’s not often that safety features work in isolation. It is essential to understand every safety feature your car has and what is needed for it to work properly, and more importantly, for it to not become a hazard.
