Guide to... the safety kit

The lowdown on technology to help prevent accidents and keep you safe on the road.

The lowdown on technology to help prevent accidents and keep you safe on the road.

TRACTION ANDu00a0 STABILITY CONTROL

BRAKING AIDS

These prevent the car's wheels from locking up under braking, leading to a skid. They enable the driver to steer while braking hard, without losing control of the car. Many cars also have Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD), which ensures the stopping power is sent to the wheels with the most grip. Then there's Brake Assist, which can determine when you are making an emergency stop and ensures that you get full stopping power, no matter how hard you are braking.

ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The best cruise control systems don't just maintain your speed without any pressure on the accelerator, they can also keep you at a constant distance from the car ahead. Get too close and they reduce engine performance until the gap is restored. Now some even deliver an audible warning if you're too close to avoid a crash and, if you don't react, the car will start to brake by itself. As yet, the systems can't completely prevent accidents, but they can reduce their severity.

DEFORMABLE STRUCTURE
Cars are getting bigger ahead of the front wheels. It's all in the name of safety. The front ends of cars are designed to crumple progressively in an accident so that the crash energy is dissipated away from the passenger cell. That way you are not subjected to sudden deceleration forces that could kill you. There's a further consideration a long nose on a car makes it easier to shape the front end. So, if you hit a pedestrian, the victim has a better chance of surviving.

AIRBAGS
First there was one for the driver, then one for the front passenger. Now some cars have up to nine airbags, mounted in the steering wheel or dash to protect your face; in the seats or door pillars to cushion you against side impacts; as curtains that come down across the windows, and even below the steering column to shield your knees. They are triggered by sensors which can detect an accident. Some can even tell the severity of a crash and adjust the speed at which the airbags deploy.

ACTIVE HEAD RESTRAINTS
Sometimes accidents may not kill you but leave you in severe pain. Ask anyone who has suffered whiplash injury (a pain in the neck) after being in a car hit from behind. Active head restraints can spare you most of that agony. If the rear of the car is struck, it causes a sudden movement of your back against the seat. This triggers a mechanism in the seat that forces the head restraint forward, so that your neck has less space in which to move, therefore reducing the risk of whiplash.

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