Safety is a top priority at Nissan

Nissan vehicles meet or exceed all current federal safety regulations with a combination of occupant protection features and crash avoidance technologies.

While safety is built into every Nissan vehicle, it is essential for vehicle occupants to recognize their role in maximizing their safety. Specifically, all vehicle occupants need to be properly restrained by safety belts or child safety seats, and children 12 years old and younger should be properly restrained in the rear seat.

Nissan is researching new air bags, which inflate with less force and are more sophisticated than today's technology.

Nissan also is financially supporting and participating in the activities of the Air Bag Safety Campaign. This government-industry partnership is working to educate the public about air bags, safety belts and child safety seats, and to encourage states to increase the stringency and enforcement of their restraint laws.

In addition, Nissan is developing other technologies to better protect vehicle occupants and notify the driver of potentially dangerous situations. Among the systems being tested are:

Drowsiness Warning System: This system detects when a driver begins to fall asleep and emits an audible warning and a refreshing scent designed to remind the driver it's time to get some rest.

Nighttime Pedestrian Monitoring System: An infrared ray is emitted from the front of the vehicle to detect the presence of people crossing the roadway in front of the vehicle. A series of lights at the bottom of the windshield indicates the pedestrian's - path, and an audible signal alerts the driver to the pedestrian's presence.

Emergency Braking Advanced Advisory System: When a driver's foot leaves the accelerator rapidly, the system illuminates the middle portion of the center-mount stop lamp, alerting the following driver that braking is imminent. When the driver in the first vehicle applies pressure to the brake pedal, the entire center-mount stop lamp illuminates.

An additional advancement is the Infrared (IR) Sensor System. The IR Sensor System uses a combination of four infrared cameras to detect and warn the driver of humans or animals in vehicle blind spots. The cameras are located on the front roof of the vehicle and in the front, middle and rear along the bottom of the vehicle. The cameras detect heat-emitting objects within a distance of three meters (10 feet) from the cameras' locations.

Tests are continuing on these technologies, but they are yet more examples of how Nissan is committed to making the ride safer and more enjoyable.