Safety Features for the Next Generation

Along with technological advances in vehicle performance, comfort, and amenities have come advances in safety technology. Consumers can now purchase vehicles that have:

• Seat belt systems with improved performance and comfort
• Side air bags and redesigned front air bags
• Interior head protection to reduce head injuries
• Head restraints to help reduce neck injuries in rear impact crashes
• Anti-lock brake systems to prevent a vehicles wheels from locking during "panic" braking
• Traction control to improve vehicle stability and steering control
• All-wheel drive to distribute power between the front and rear wheels
• Automatic-dimming rearview mirrors that reduce headlight glare
• Daytime running lights that increase vehicle visibility to other drivers

Get the Most Value for Your Dollar

Driving a vehicle with enhanced safety features may not only save the life of someone you know and reduce injuries in the event of a crash, it may also save you money. In some states, certain safety features on a vehicle, such as air bags and anti-lock brakes, reduce the cost of insurance. Safety features may also boost your vehicles resale value because consumers are increasingly recognizing the importance of vehicle safety. Whether you are concerned about safety or saving money, knowing about the latest in safety technology enables you to compare all new vehicle features so that you get the most value for your dollar.

Be Smarter About Your Car

Use this to learn about:

• Some of the common safety features available on new vehicles
• Ways to compare standard and optional safety features on similar vehicles
• How to perform a safety check

The safety features chart in back lists safety features available on 1999 vehicles, according to size and type.

New Car Safety Features

The following descriptions provide basic information on each feature and how it works. This information will help you understand sales literature and prepare you to ask questions of the dealer. Be aware that some manufacturers may use other design features that perform the same function as those described.

Seat Belts

In the event of a crash, seat belts are designed to keep you inside the vehicle. They also reduce the risk that you will collide with the steering wheel, dashboard, or windshield. New seat belt designs have additional features that improve seat belt performance.

Adjustable upper belts. An adjustable upper belt lets you change the height of the shoulder strap to accommodate a persons size. This feature may encourage passengers to wear their belts, since it increases shoulder belt comfort.

Seat belt pretensioner. Pretensioners retract the seat belt to remove excess slack, almost instantly, in a crash. However, you still need to adjust your seat belt as snugly as possible, since pretensioners are not powerful enough to pull you back into your seat. Like air bags, pretensioners are usually "one use" devices and need to be replaced after a crash.

Energy management features. Energy management features allow seat belts to "give" or yield to prevent forces on the shoulder belt (during a severe crash) from concentrating too much energy on your chest. These features include "load limiters" built into the shoulder belt retractor and/or "tear stitching" in the webbing that causes the seat belt to extend gradually.

Rear center seat lap/shoulder belts. Although manufacturers are only required to have lap belts in the rear center position, some provide a lap/shoulder belt. This added feature is especially beneficial to older children and children in booster seats who are often seated in the rear center position.

Air Bags

Depending on the speed at impact and the stiffness of the object struck, front air bags inflate to prevent occupants from hitting the dashboard, steering wheel, and windshield. Side air bags reduce the risk that occupants will hit the door or objects that crash through it. Driver and front passenger air bags are standard equipment in all 1999 model year vehicles.

Redesigned air bags. In March 1997, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) enhanced automakers' ability to reduce the power of their air bags by 20 to 35 percent. Many automakers are now including redesigned air bags in 1999 vehicles. So ask your local dealer for information about changes in air bag design and performance.

On-off switches. An on-off switch can deactivate driver or passenger air bags. Vehicles without rear seats, or with small rear seats, such as pickups and sports cars, may have a passenger-side, on-off switch as standard equipment. You can get authorization from NHTSA to have an on-off switch installed by a dealer or repair shop if you:

• Cannot avoid placing a rear-facing infant seat in the front seat
• Have been advised by a physician that you have a medical condition that places you at specific risk
• Cannot adjust your drivers position to keep your breastbone back approximately 10 inches from the center of the steering wheel
• Cannot avoid situations, such as a car pool, that require a child 12 or under to ride in the front seat

You can get a brochure about on-off switches and an installation request form from local vehicle dealerships, AAA offices, state motor vehicle offices, and NHTSA. Since on-off switches are not available for all vehicles, verify availability of a switch for your vehicle before you request authorization for its installation.

Side air bags. Side air bags provide additional chest protection by inflating instantly during many side crashes; some, also provide head protection. However, side air bags are not required by law. Most manufacturers use padding or improved door and body structures to meet federal side-impact requirements. Check with the dealer or read the owner's manual for information and warnings about child passengers and side air bags.

Head Injury Protection

Head injury protection consists of foam or other energy absorbing material under the trim of the vehicle interior and is likely to be invisible to vehicle occupants. Some vehicles have head air bags. Both types of protection are designed to shield occupants from injuries caused when their head strikes the upper interior of a vehicle.

By the year 2003, all vehicles must meet new Federal standards for head injury protection. Charts show which 1999 vehicles already meet them.

Head Restraints

Head restraints are extensions of the vehicle's seats that limit head movement during a rear-impact crash, thus, reducing the probability of neck injury. While you must adjust most head restraints manually, some adjust automatically with changes in seat position or in a crash. You can move manually adjustable head restraints up and down (vertical adjustments) and, in some instances, forward and backward (horizontal adjustments). To be effective, the top of the head restraint should be between the top of your ears and the top of your head. Horizontal placement should be as close to your head as possible, without pushing it forward or causing the height of the head restraint to drop. Some vehicles have rear seat head restraints, as noted in the charts.

Anti-lock Brake Systems

Anti-lock brake systems (ABS) prevent a vehicle's wheels from locking during "panic" braking and allow the driver to maintain steering control as the vehicle slows - a key factor in avoiding a collision. However, ABS do not guarantee your ability to avoid a crash, especially when having to stop suddenly. Furthermore, you still may lose control when driving at excessive speeds or when using extreme steering maneuvers.

All passenger cars equipped with ABS have four-wheel ABS. Sport utility vehicles, trucks, and vans equipped with ABS can have either four-wheel or two-wheel ABS. Four-wheel ABS monitor and control all the wheels of the vehicle, while two-wheel ABS only monitor and control the rear wheels of a vehicle. The full benefits of ABS are not available to the driver with a two-wheel ABS. In vehicles with two-wheel ABS, the front wheels can still lock during hard or panic braking and this lockup can result in the loss of steering control.

Traction Control

Traction control systems improve vehicle stability and steering control during acceleration by controlling the amount the drive wheels can slip when you apply excess power. The system automatically adjusts the engine power output and, in some systems, applies braking force to selected wheels during acceleration and cornering. Traction control is mainly found on vehicles with four-wheel, anti-lock brake systems.

All-Wheel Drive

All-wheel drive distributes power more evenly to both front and rear wheels to maximize traction. Unless combined with traction control, all-wheel drive systems do not prevent the drive wheels from slipping when you apply excess power during acceleration.

Automatic-dimming Rearview Mirrors

Conventional interior rearview mirrors have a manual day/night lever that drivers switch to reduce glare from rear-approaching vehicles. Automatic-dimming rearview mirrors automatically darken to reduce headlight glare. They dim gradually as the glare gets brighter.

Daytime Running Lights

Daytime running lights increase the ability of oncoming drivers to see your vehicle. Since they may not include tail lights or other exterior lights, remember to turn your headlights on at dusk.

Frontal and Side Impact Protection

Each year, NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program crash tests vehicles and provides ratings on how well each vehicle protects drivers and passengers during frontal and side collisions. For cars and light trucks, injury severity is measured based on a 35-mph frontal crash using all of the vehicle’s occupant protection equipment for the test dummies. For side collisions, injury severity is measured based on impact at 38.5 mph. Although it is impossible to assess how well a vehicle provides protection in all circumstances using a single test, these ratings provide a useful basis for comparison.

For the latest crash-test data, call the DOT Auto Safety Hotline: 888- DASH-2-DOT. You can also request a copy of Buying a Safer Car, 1998, which has the crash-test results for all 1998 vehicles. If you are on-line, crash-test data for 1999 vehicles will be available at DOT’s web site at www.nhtsa.dot.gov, once the tests are completed.

Compare Safety Packages

With an average cost of about $20,000, buying a new vehicle is an important financial decision. Check buying guides, available at newsstands, libraries, or on the Internet to learn more about standard and optional safety features. Once you know which features are standard, you can begin making cost comparisons for safety. Find out about manufacturers’ “clones,” which are nearly identical vehicles marketed under different names. For example, you could come out ahead on safety buying the high-end model of a clone-with standard safety features-instead of the low-end model of the more heavily promoted vehicle with those features added as options. In addition to crash test data, consider all of the features described in this brochure-seat belt features, air bags, head injury protection, head restraints, anti-lock brake systems, traction control, all-wheel drive, and automatic-dimming rearview mirrors. Other important safety equipment, which is often standard, includes right-side mirrors and rear window defrosters-and, don’t forget built-in child safety seats.

Perform a Safety Check 

Try on the seat belt and take a test drive to ensure that you are comfortable while driving the vehicle. During your test drive, make sure head restraints, roof structures and windshield designs do not interfere with your ability to see clearly. If you have young children, install their child safety seats to check for compatibility.*

* The Buying a Safer Car for Child Passengers brochure provides important information to consider when purchasing a vehicle in which children ride. Call your local AAA office or the DOT Auto Safety Hotline to obtain a copy.