Cars are wonderful creations that have paved the way for convenient travel. A large majority of the world owns a vehicle or has been inside of one, and with the advent of Tesla’s self-driving cars, it seems like the future holds promise for people that previously haven’t driven vehicles or are immobile and unable to travel due to their personal health issues.

However, cars are ultimately not the safest vehicles around due to how easy it is for a careless driver to slam into another vehicle, or how a badly maintained vehicle can cause unexpected issues for the driver themselves. Sadly, this has led to many automobile accidents and it seems like even Tesla’s self-driving car isn’t able to achieve one hundred percent safety. But thanks to many manufacturers that put safety as a priority, there are countless small improvements to technology that are being added to our vehicles or are being sold as extra accessories that greatly improve our safety. To give you an idea of what those devices are, here are just a few examples.

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Airbags

When you brake suddenly or slam into another vehicle, the force of the sudden stop is enough to send you flying forward. Thanks to your seatbelt (you do remember to wear one, right?) you aren’t sent flying through your windshield and out of your vehicle. In addition to the seat belt, we also have airbags that were introduced in the early 1980s. These bags can inflate in less than a second in order to protect you from colliding into your steering wheel or dashboard, and they provide a soft surface for you to rest your head against when you collide.

Emergency Lighting

Although it doesn’t save lives immediately like an airbag or a seatbelt, a strobe light can prevent horrifying collisions especially at night. When a vehicle breaks down in the night, the lights are shut off and there is virtually no way for someone to spot your vehicle in a dimly lit or dark road. This means that a careless driver could collide into you at full speed because they lacked the time to react to your vehicle or they were simply distracted. To remedy this, you can purchase simple strobe lights that clip onto your windscreen and strobe bright lights so that everyone knows you have broken down. These are cheap accessories that are compatible with any vehicle, and they can prevent horrible disasters like multiple-vehicle collisions and fatal accidents.

Automatic Braking

Automatic brake systems are expensive and are usually on high-end luxury cars, but there are some manufacturers that want to bring this auto-braking technology to the masses in order to prevent collisions that are the result of distractions or neglect. Many people use their phones or turn around to look at the people in the back while they drive and this can result in collisions that are needless and could have been avoided. Sadly, human error is something that we must account for which is why automatic braking systems could become a life-saver in the future.