How can we really determine what’s safe? In my 20 years of covering the motoring and mobility landscape, one thing has always been a universal concern among every single new car buyer, especially a first-time car buyer: what’s the safest car within my budget?
This is especially true for first time and young mothers who often ask me how many airbags are in the car? Then followed by does it have traction / stability control? In today’s standards, having ABS is a given on practically all cars, so it’s not even asked anymore. It’s also the same with reverse cameras, often a popular dealer-fit accessory if not fitted from the factory and proximity parking sensors all around.
Of course, EBD or electronic brake-force distribution is also becoming standard, as is emergency brake assist (where the brakes slam on fully to engage ABS if the car’s electronic brains think you didn’t press on the stop pedal hard enough to avoid a crash) while CBC or cornering brake control is a dynamic braking aid to give better stability when cornering under heavy braking. These are what’s known as passive safety features, i.e. they are activated by inputs from the driver.
The more savvy car buyers will ask about the car’s NCAP crash test rating measured in the number of stars. A 5-Star rating is the safest vehicle, and less stars mean less safe. For those unfamiliar, NCAP stands for New Car Assessment Program. There are actually many NCAP testing organizations worldwide: The United States, Europe, Australia, ASEAN, Russia, South Korea and now a true Global NCAP. NCAP standardizes crash tests at specific angles and speeds, based on years of empirical data on the most common accidents recorded throughout history starting in 1972. This encourages manufacturers to build better, safer vehicles for the public. There are nuances between each NCAP test center worldwide which puts stronger emphasis on specific criteria that varies between NCAP regions, but the bottom-line is the same: the more stars a vehicle is awarded, the safer it is. Hence, the second most common question I am asked is how did the car fare in the NCAP crash testing?
The latest in safety nowadays though, are the active safety systems built into today’s cars. Through a series of cameras, sensors, radars and even lasers talking together, a vehicle can almost anticipate or even predict imminent dangerous situations, and safely steer away the vehicle and its occupants from a very likely crash or accident. Subaru calls theirs Subaru EyeSight, Honda’s is called Honda Sensing, Mercedes-Benz’s is called PRE-SAFE, Toyota has their Toyota Safety Sense and Porsche has PAS or Porsche Active Safety.
These systems can help you see better in the dark, steer you to stay within the two lines in your lane, slow you down to avoid a tail-gate crash situation, or maintain a safe distance while cruising. In many ways, think of these active safety system as a precursor to fully autonomous driving.
Today’s cars have never been safer and more efficient, not to mention higher performing. They require less effort and allow us to maintain a higher average speed to get us to our destination sooner.
The downside to all this amazing advancement in technology, is that it has allowed us, the average driver to be less focused and more distracted behind the wheel, breeding a bad generation of drivers too reliant on technology that still isn’t perfect and 100% consistently reliable. Despite being banned, you will see a multitude of drivers texting or talking on their mobile phones, fiddling the massive displays on their vehicles or worse, watching movies while driving.
While today’s cars are indeed safer, have we made the roads safer? Are we better drivers because of all these technological advancements, or has it made us dumber, poorer, less skilled and more distracted drivers?
Perhaps we should be asking instead, if we, the drivers, are safer, better, more focused and attentive drivers? Only then can we truly make our roads safer, making each journey truly worry-free.
My personal remedy to realign myself again? Drive an old manual transmission-equipped car, preferably with a clutch that requires considerable effort. Nothing forces you to forget everything else and just focus on making it to the end of your drive. Without stalling the car like an amateur in traffic.
These are just two aspects of what make our roads safe. Let’s not get into familiarity of traffic laws, and the actual road conditions themselves just yet.
