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Advanced safety features are saving lives and providing consumers with more options By Ashleigh Iverson J201 reporter
Being aware and safety conscious, is an everyday part of Holly Moorman's life, especially now that she is a mother and baby sits for Blake twice a week. Having safety locks on the kitchen cabinets and drawers and plastic safety guards on electrical outlets are just some of the safety measures that Moorman has in her home to prevent injury or harm.
Moorman is not only safety conscious at home, but also when letting her son and Blake play at the park. She keeps a close watch on the boys, sitting on a nearby bench and occasionally walking closer to help them maneuver down the slide or across the bridge.
Her safety habits are especially in full gear when driving with the kids. Putting Jeremy in the van, Moorman waits patiently for her son to climb into the car seat. Then, she fits the seatbelt snuggly around his body to make sure it's secure. Besides the importance of the safety belt another safety feature that Moorman is glad she purchased is the automatic door sensors. “They have been a life saver to my son and Blake and to me at times. It's amazing what technology can do,” she said.
Moorman is not alone when it comes to considering advanced safety features for vehicles; consumers today have a broader range of choices. Because of increased auto advertisements and consumer's interest in more efficient and advanced safety features, automakers are developing more safety options.
Consumers and manufacturers are paying attention to these features for good reason. Crash test reports and statistics have started to show a decrease in number of deaths and injuries. Results of a study by the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the increase in safety features has accounted for half of all lives saved. It also showed that the number of lives saved annually increased steadily from 115 per year in 1960 to nearly 25,000 per year in 2002.
Such statistics are the very reason that people are demanding – and manufacturers are providing - a whole range of new products.
Manufactures have been developing new and advanced car safety features to fit the demands of consumers. “It's nice to finally see some of these new safety systems that can control the car, seatbelts etc. with sensors,” Moorman said as she recalls being informed about new features from a car dealership consultant.
DaimlerChrysler came out with, ParkSense, a radar sensing system that detects and warns driver about objects within 20 meters around the vehicle. “Its not going to help you survive an accident, it's an attempt to make idiot proof,” said Ross Grimes, sales manager of Bloomington's Town & Country Chrysler.
Another safety system that auto manufacturers are offering is Electronic Stability Control (ESC). “It helps get the car under control by controlling parts of the engine using a sensor system,” Grimes said. ESC and other energy-absorbing steering assemblies, which are “built-in” safety technologies, saved an estimated 2,567 lives in 2002, according to a 2004 report by the NHTSA. Another sensing system that manufacturers have started implementing is a rollover sensing system that includes side-impact airbags, to protect people in rollover crashes. The system senses the rollover which retracts the safety belt tension, allowing the airbag to keep the passenger firmly in the seat.
Not only looking at newly developed safety features, but developing more innovative and efficient means of car safety mechanisms is the next step for automakers. “Some things that are in the works include: airbags that sense a passengers weight and height and reacts accordingly, sensors that can tell you how far away vehicles are from you and more advanced electronic stability control systems that help control the engine and tires,” Liz Neblett, an NHTSA communications specialist said.
This technological blitz of safety features is part of an evolution that has taken place over the course of the past 40 years. Not only are the new and future safety features being tested, corrected, advertised and bought, but the ones that started the safety conscious consumer are changing through the times.
Accounting for half of the lives saved, there are two main safety features that have excelled technologically and work together to prevent injury and death, the seatbelt and airbag. “Without the seatbelt, the airbag won't work properly,” said Neblett.
The seatbelt was the first safety feature placed into some cars starting in the 1960s and eventually mandated in 1968. Since 1960 they have accounted for half of all lives saved in car accidents, according to an NHTSA report in 2005. “The seatbelt is the best!” Neblett said. “It's the cheapest and best because it's been in cars since way back when.”
The main component that goes a long with the seatbelt is the airbag. “Everything relies on you being in position for it to work,” Neblett said. The first airbags were optional in the mid 1970s in such automakers as Cadillac, Oldsmobile and Buick. Neblett also said that they(airbags) did not become mandated until the late 1990s; September 1998 for passenger vehicles and September 1999 for SUVs, trucks and vans.
The main type of airbag available is the front-impact airbag, but as technology has advanced safety features, automakers are implementing side-supplemental/impact airbags. “Frontal airbags saved 2, 473 lives in 2002 when 63 percent of cars and on the road were equipped with driver or dual air bags,” according to a 2004 article from the NHTSA.
Consumers of all ages are interested in the advanced safety options available. “I just got a 2004 Grand Jeep Cherokee and it came with a lot of safety options and features,” 21 year old Sarah Green said. “I have become more safety conscious because of my consistent driving from home (Chicago) to Bloomington, advertisements and the constant reminder about safety tests.”
Crash test data and statistics have not always been around or available for car buyers to review. “Since we have been offering info and advertising more, people have been looking at these tests, stats, etc. to see the ratings,” Neblett said. “They notice high marks and they look for the five-star ratings.”
Besides looking for just the five-star rating, some consumers look at all the reports, data and statistics to help narrow down their vehicle options. “I looked at different mini-van crash test reports before deciding on the Chrysler Town & Country,” Moorman said. “It had the best overall rating out of the other vans I looked at and I liked some features it offered such as the door sensors, DVD player and the keyless entry to all doors.”
Not only crash test data and reports have sent consumers to invest in safety technology, but the increased options of different safety features and advertisements. Green said she also liked the fact that there are so many more safety options available than in her first car. “I like the new side-impact airbags because hopefully they will work if it gets turned over."
Automakers take into account what consumers are looking for, what has sold the most and what surprises consumers might want. “If the consumer wants a hot car then will give them a hot car,” Neblett said. “We try really hard to make it so they get what they want.”
Moorman said that when she was deciding what features to get, she looked mainly for necessary safety measures, but also features that overall would prevent and protect her family from injury. For instance, the door sensors and side-impact airbags are just some of the features she thought would be worth the extra costs.
Allowing consumers and automakers to get what they want is only part of the safety issue. Government regulators and automakers are also trying to focus on new ways to avoid car crashes, not just the aftermath of a crash, Reporter Michelle Higgins said in an article from The Wall Street Journal.
Trying to prevent accidents and injury is at the top of the list for reasons why manufactures are promoting for more safety conscious consumers. However, there are other means for pressuring such safety demands.
“I think the major driving force is competition,” Grimes said. “Each manufacturer is developing new ideas to gain a competitive edge in the market to see who can claim the safest car, SUV, etc.”
Besides competing against one another, “Automakers are offering more information about safety features and their statistics” and “people are realizing that safety sells,” Neblett said.
The continuance of gathering data and information regarding safety features in crash tests has allowed consumers to see the real numbers and statistics, impacting them on their safety feature purchases and uses. “Since 1988, continued increases in belt use, air bags and other recent technologies, and a steadily escalating “base” of more vehicles and more VMT (vehicle miles of travel) have helped the fatality reduction grow steadily, exceeding 15,000 in 1994 and 20,000 in 2000, reaching 24,561 in 2002,” according to a study published in 2004 by the NHTSA.
“Reading statistical information like this I think helps put safety issues in perspective,” Moorman said. “It really makes you think twice about what features to buy and what features you would like to see in the future. I would like to see more all-around safety systems that can maybe one day predict what could happen on the road.”
Page designed and edited by: Kim Rainbolt Last updated: May 2, 2005
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