Hendersonville Car Accident Lawyers

Most Important Safety Features in Vehicles

Ever since the introduction of the first automobile at the turn of the 20th century, car accidents have become an unfortunate part of life. However, over the years, car manufacturers have developed numerous safety features that decrease the risks and severity of injuries suffered by car accident victims. Modern vehicles contain a wide variety of safety features designed to both minimize the impact of the car accident on the occupants as well as reduce the overall damage to the vehicle itself.

Life-Saving Vehicle Safety Features

At Matt Hardin Law, our Hendersonville car accident lawyers have helped many auto accident victims whose lives were saved by the advent of modern safety features. Some of the most important safety features that are designed to reduce the severity of accidents and accident-related injuries include:

Seat belts

Seat belts first became standard in vehicles in the early 1960s, and laws requiring their use have been in existence in the United States since 1984. Seat belts are extremely important in car accidents because they hold drivers and passengers in place, reducing the risk of ejections or victims striking their heads or other parts of their bodies against the interior of vehicles. The use of seat belts significantly reduces the risk of life-threatening injuries in car accidents and allows drivers and passengers a chance to survive crashes that would otherwise prove fatal.

Airbags

Airbags that deploy upon impact—especially when paired with seat belts—make drivers and passengers in auto accidents even less likely to suffer serious head and neck injuries. Those types of injuries were common before such safety features were standard, as victims would often strike their heads against the steering wheels or dashboards of their vehicles during car accidents, but airbags reduce and absorb the bulk of the impact, causing much less damage to the head, brain, and spinal cord.

Anti-lock brakes

ABS systems allow vehicles to stop much more quickly when pressure is applied to the brake pedal by monitoring the pressure on each tire’s individual brake. In addition, ABS systems also allow drivers to remain in control of their vehicles even while putting the maximum amount of pressure on their brakes—and that can make a huge difference in the moments before a potential car accident. In the past, drivers had to learn how to brake efficiently to avoid losing control, but ABS systems have made it possible for drivers to simply press the brake pedal without thinking—which is a life-saving creation during stressful situations.

Power steering

Power steering has the same effect on maneuvering vehicles as ABS systems do for stopping them. Vehicles equipped with modern power steering are much more easily controlled and can be turned sharply with a small rotation of the steering wheel. Before the advent of power steering, vehicles required much more force to turn and losing control while trying to avoid car accidents was common for drivers. Nowadays, drivers have the ability to correct their vehicles’ paths much easier to avoid accidents without the fear of losing control.

The automotive industry is constantly creating new safety features to make vehicles safer for drivers and their passengers. Recent advances even include vehicles that parallel park themselves and even drive automatically on highways and interstates. At Matt Hardin Law, our Hendersonville auto accident lawyers applaud the efforts of automakers throughout the world for their dedication to safety and decreasing the number of car accidents both here and abroad.

But as car accident lawyers, we know that safety features don’t mean that car accidents don’t occur or don’t cause serious injuries. If you or someone you love was hurt in a car accident that was caused by another person’s negligence, we can create a claim to help you get compensation for your lost wages, medical bills, and more. Contact us today by dialing filling out a free online form.

Hendersonville Car Accident Attorneys