The Importance of car safety
Timothy Scott
The evolution of vehicles offers us a parallel to the evolution of man. Like mankind developing faster in the past five years than in the previous 100, car brands continue to develop new technology and innovations to implement into their products for the costumers. Cars were slow to develop early on compared to the newer models that continue to elevate the industry. Long gone are the days of single strap lap belts, shifters by the steering wheel, white-wall tires, and the ultimate anti-theft protection: stick shifts.
Motor vehicles were being invented, and perfected, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in Europe, but the industry was dominated by the United States of America in the early parts of the twentieth century. The big three American motor companies, Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, are still around today, continually innovating to keep up with market demands.
Companies today continue innovate the market to make driving safer, including companies like Google looking to develop self-driving cars. In October of 2016 Uber sent out a self-driven delivery truck that transported 50,000 cans of Budwesier along Interstate 25 in Colorado. It has been predicted that with a world full of self-driving cars that accidents will become a thing of the past.
When asked about safety in cars General Manager of Papa’s Dodge Sean Lawlor stated, “I believe that the continuous development and implementation of new vehicle safety features is crucial to the long-term success of the various automobile manufacturers. It has long been established that consumers want safe vehicles. There are brands like Subaru and Volvo that have prospered by creating effective marketing strategies based almost entirely on the safety of their vehicles. It is extremely important that the public perceives a manufacturer’s product line as safe, especially during this time of heightened Government over-sight in vehicle safety. Now consumers expect safety features like 9 airbags, active restraint systems, rear back-up cams, lane departure warnings, automatic braking, and park assist to be standard rather than optional features. I believe there will be exponential leaps in vehicle safety over the next 10 years as part of the natural and necessary evolution of the industry.”
Rear-view back up cameras have become standard in vehicles in recent years, especially the higher the trim level vehicles. These cameras help aid a driver while in reverse as they can help them more accurately back-park or see something when backing out of the driveway. Having a rear-view back up camera helps add another angle that drivers can see when they move the shifter into the R position. Lane detection warnings add another layer of safety. When driving a warning signal, most often a red light or yellow triangle, on the side mirror will warn you when you are getting to close to an object on your side.
Automated breaks adds a sense of safety if someone suffers a lapse in judgement behind the wheel. Automated breaks can also help prevent an accident if the driver suddenly gets cut off while driving, or miss judges the amount of space between themselves and the driver in front of them. Also, automated breaks can help a lending when parking as they can prevent a driver from hitting another car, or something else.
A recent addition to certain baseline models of cars has been keyless ignitions and remote entry. Further developments on remote entry have led to proximity locks being implemented in recent models. Keyless ignitions provide vehicles with a unique way to start. Gone are the days of turning keys, sometimes cumbersomely, depending on what is on an individual’s keychain, and welcomed are the days were cars are started with the push of a button. Though there are a few steps one takes before the car will start.
A driver who has never experienced a keyless ignition before will likely sit in the car pushing the button wondering why the engine won’t start. This can provide safety similar to what a car with a manual stick shift can provide. An individual might not know how to operate the vehicle. With the key inside the vehicle, apply pressure to the break and then either press or hold (depending on the make and model of the car) the ignition button to start the engine. Proximity locks in doors also provides drivers with added security; allowing drivers to open the vehicle doors without removing the key from their pocket. Though, the driver must be within inches of the vehicle for this function to work.
Ultimately the evolution of car safety has seen the development of already existing features. Better mirrors, more airbags, brighter and better angled lights, have all aided driver safety over the years. The addition of better reflectors on light covers provides other drivers better chances of seeing other cars during foggy times.
As technology continues to develop so too will cars. An old prediction was that robots would eventually replace humans in the factories as they would be able to develop products at a faster rate. However, that prediction might eventually come true for drivers as car technology continues to develop and improve safety, maybe eventually self-driven cars will be the safest way to travel.
The evolution of vehicles offers us a parallel to the evolution of man. Like mankind developing faster in the past five years than in the previous 100, car brands continue to develop new technology and innovations to implement into their products for the costumers. Cars were slow to develop early on compared to the newer models that continue to elevate the industry. Long gone are the days of single strap lap belts, shifters by the steering wheel, white-wall tires, and the ultimate anti-theft protection: stick shifts.
Motor vehicles were being invented, and perfected, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in Europe, but the industry was dominated by the United States of America in the early parts of the twentieth century. The big three American motor companies, Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, are still around today, continually innovating to keep up with market demands.
Companies today continue innovate the market to make driving safer, including companies like Google looking to develop self-driving cars. In October of 2016 Uber sent out a self-driven delivery truck that transported 50,000 cans of Budwesier along Interstate 25 in Colorado. It has been predicted that with a world full of self-driving cars that accidents will become a thing of the past.
When asked about safety in cars General Manager of Papa’s Dodge Sean Lawlor stated, “I believe that the continuous development and implementation of new vehicle safety features is crucial to the long-term success of the various automobile manufacturers. It has long been established that consumers want safe vehicles. There are brands like Subaru and Volvo that have prospered by creating effective marketing strategies based almost entirely on the safety of their vehicles. It is extremely important that the public perceives a manufacturer’s product line as safe, especially during this time of heightened Government over-sight in vehicle safety. Now consumers expect safety features like 9 airbags, active restraint systems, rear back-up cams, lane departure warnings, automatic braking, and park assist to be standard rather than optional features. I believe there will be exponential leaps in vehicle safety over the next 10 years as part of the natural and necessary evolution of the industry.”
Rear-view back up cameras have become standard in vehicles in recent years, especially the higher the trim level vehicles. These cameras help aid a driver while in reverse as they can help them more accurately back-park or see something when backing out of the driveway. Having a rear-view back up camera helps add another angle that drivers can see when they move the shifter into the R position. Lane detection warnings add another layer of safety. When driving a warning signal, most often a red light or yellow triangle, on the side mirror will warn you when you are getting to close to an object on your side.
Automated breaks adds a sense of safety if someone suffers a lapse in judgement behind the wheel. Automated breaks can also help prevent an accident if the driver suddenly gets cut off while driving, or miss judges the amount of space between themselves and the driver in front of them. Also, automated breaks can help a lending when parking as they can prevent a driver from hitting another car, or something else.
A recent addition to certain baseline models of cars has been keyless ignitions and remote entry. Further developments on remote entry have led to proximity locks being implemented in recent models. Keyless ignitions provide vehicles with a unique way to start. Gone are the days of turning keys, sometimes cumbersomely, depending on what is on an individual’s keychain, and welcomed are the days were cars are started with the push of a button. Though there are a few steps one takes before the car will start.
A driver who has never experienced a keyless ignition before will likely sit in the car pushing the button wondering why the engine won’t start. This can provide safety similar to what a car with a manual stick shift can provide. An individual might not know how to operate the vehicle. With the key inside the vehicle, apply pressure to the break and then either press or hold (depending on the make and model of the car) the ignition button to start the engine. Proximity locks in doors also provides drivers with added security; allowing drivers to open the vehicle doors without removing the key from their pocket. Though, the driver must be within inches of the vehicle for this function to work.
Ultimately the evolution of car safety has seen the development of already existing features. Better mirrors, more airbags, brighter and better angled lights, have all aided driver safety over the years. The addition of better reflectors on light covers provides other drivers better chances of seeing other cars during foggy times.
As technology continues to develop so too will cars. An old prediction was that robots would eventually replace humans in the factories as they would be able to develop products at a faster rate. However, that prediction might eventually come true for drivers as car technology continues to develop and improve safety, maybe eventually self-driven cars will be the safest way to travel.