The dealership lot is filled with new cars all equipped with screens, sensors and stylish add-ons.
The price stickers boast of technology features like, smart cruise control or sun sensing glass, but it is easy for you to ignore those features completely with all that technology within arm’s reach. Parent’s ignoring such features isn’t just dangerous, it’s crazy.
Your family car must do more than get you from point A to point B; it also must keep you and your family safe every mile.
Must-Have Features for the Safest Family Car
When purchasing a new family car, don’t let price, appearance, or comfort be the only factors in your decision. Safety comes first. After all, as a parent, your duty is to ensure your family is as safe as possible every time you are on the road.
And just as safety features are important, so is the coverage, so consider also identifying the best car insurance companies.
In addition to what to keep in the car, ensure it has the correct features because these are no longer optional extras but ‘must-haves’!
Advanced Safety Features
New vehicles have computerized systems that feature are intended to assist with awareness, reduce the stress of driving, and protect your and your family’s safety:
- Adaptive Cruise Control: will be adjusted automatically allowing your momentum and distance from the vehicle ahead to be maintained appropriately.
- ABS (Anti-lock Braking System): prevents your wheels from locking if you need to brake unexpectedly, and possibly direct the vehicle and maintain control when on a slippery surface.
- TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitor System): will continuously monitor the pressure of your tires and advise you if any one tire is underinflated, saving from blowout.
- Connected Navigation Systems: can relay the status of traffic conditions that are occurring and help route you towards a safer or quicker friendly route.
Stability Control
Electronic Stability Control (ESC) monitors vehicle drive conditions and its effect on stability by measuring rotational speed, lateral movement, and wheel speed using several sensors. If your vehicle is slipping or drifting off the intended path, ESC identifies which wheels require brake intervention, which may include or not include engine power reduction.
Stability Control will give you more control of your vehicle and peace of mind in the stability of your designated path of travel, especially during sudden changes in steering angle or adverse weather conditions, enhancing your synchronicity and confidence for every drive.
ISOFIX Points
HealthyChildren.org recommends that children ride in car/booster seats until 4’9″ tall and 8 to 12 years old. To ensure that you can get the child safety seat in tightly, look for a vehicle that has ISOFIX (International Standards Organisation Fix) anchor points built into the vehicle.
ISOFIX is set into the vehicle which means you won’t have to rely on the seat belt to lock in the seat. With ISOFIX, you’ll have a quicker, sturdier and consistent level of child safety seating.
LATCH Points
LATCH or Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children has been standard for all passenger vehicles since 2002. It has built in anchors located in the crease of the seat cushions that lets you install a car/booster seat easily without a seatbelt.
If used right and the child is within the specified weight group set by the car seat, it is equally as safe as the seat belt. LATCH has limitations; you can only use LATCH in the designated seating positions. You must always check both the vehicle manual and car seat manual to comply with manufacturer requirements.
Surround-View Camera
A surround-view camera exceeds basic rear visibility, using multiple cameras to show everything around the car. This will give you a good view of nearby pedestrians, pedestrians, and objects immediately surrounding your vehicle.
As you can view all sides while parking, you minimize the risk of any accidents and protect children, pets, and anything in your way.
Child Lock
Travel with kids frequently? If you can, find a vehicle with a child lock system. This will ensure that your child cannot open their rear doors from the inside while the vehicle is moving. This can help prevent accidents on busy drives or long-distance travel with kids.
Before each journey it is important to check and activate this lock! Find the switch located along the passenger/driver edge of the rear door, and either switch the lever or turn on the key to lock the door.
Hands-free Boot Opening
When you are carrying items, it can be difficult to open the boot of your vehicle. That is where a hands-free boot opening, known as a hands-free liftgate, power liftgate, or smart trunk comes into play, this technology involves your vehicle detecting a tapping motion under the rear bumper, usually a light foot kick, while the key fob is close by.
This system prevents accidental openings by confirming the drivers intended gesture. There are many vehicles makes and models that use this safety technology, such as Ford Explorer, BMW X5, Toyota Highlander, Mercedes-Benz GLC, and Chevrolet Tahoe, just to name a few, boats should provide their customers with safety technology upon boarding and getting of the boat.
Rear Seat Reminder
In 2024, there were 39 heatstroke deaths of children in the U.S., and many were caused by leaving children alone in or forgetting children in a hot car. Rear seat reminder systems help prevent these tragedies by putting reminders in place to check the rear seat for people.
These systems use dashboard prompts and ultrasonic sensors or radar to detect movement. These systems are an additional layer of safety for your family and may help reduce the risk for heat entrapment and death.
Safe Exit Assist
Safe exit assist systems assist family members and other passengers when parked or near other vehicles to avoid accidents. The system’s alerts are initiated when the rear doors are opened due to a vehicle or bicycle approaching from behind.
The system detects if there’s approaching traffic. It will keep the rear door locked and provide an alert using an alarm or warning message on the display screen that warns other passengers to remain inside and to keep everyone safe.
Driver Attention Warning
You depend on your focus and awareness to keep your family safe while driving on the road. Long trips and stress can make focus disappear when you need it most. When that happens, you need help: Enter Driver Attention Warning (DAW).
DAW continuously monitors your steering, lane position, and driving patterns to identify when there’s a likelihood of distracted or fatigued driving. DAW will issue a warning that can include a coffee cup icon or a chime when a risk is identified. DAW gives you a polite reminder to take a break and refresh your ability to drive safely.
Blind Spot Warning System
Neglecting to look for blind spots is common cause of an accident. While side mirrors offer limited visibility when changing lanes, a blind spot monitor will inform you of vehicles that are outside of your view.
This system alerts you with visual and audible warnings, depending on the make and model of vehicle.
Forward Collision Warning
Driving too fast, or too close is determined to be a serious risk for car accidents, everything from head-on collisions to fender benders contributes to the socioeconomic disaster happening on our roads today.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that in 2023 speeding accounted for 29% of all traffic deaths, resulting in 11,775 deaths on our roadways. With a mean of over 32 lives lost due to speeding every day, this can’t be allowed to continue.
Now with the Forward Collision Warning, you’ll be notified when you are getting too close to another vehicle and predicted to hit them without slowing down.
Built-in Sunshades
Your baby (young child) is susceptible to burning, as their skin is sensitive to UV rays. Cars are not always a good shelter, as UV rays can penetrate through your car’s windows while driving.
This is why sunshades are beneficial because many minivans and larger sized vehicles will have built-in sunshades that you can pull over the windows, shielding your kids that are sitting in the back seats.