ROAD REPORT
What’s Next in Car Safety? Bright headlights that don’t shine in other drivers’ eyes, and sensors that can “see” children left behind in hot cars: These are just two lifesaving innovations coming soon to a dealership near you. BY KEITH BARRY
I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y S I N E L A B
N THE NOT-TOO-DISTANT PAST, advances in car safety focused on keeping drivers and passengers protected in a crash. Today’s vehicles go a step beyond, using cameras, radar, and computing power to prevent crashes and other tragedies from happening in the first place. As a result, modern safety systems protect not only those inside vehicles but also other drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. Features such as automatic emergency braking (AEB) and blind spot warning (BSW) are already preventing crashes, but we’re still only starting to realize the benefits of how technology can make roads safer, says Jake Fisher, senior director of CR’s Auto Test Center. Soon, more powerful processors and sensors will usher in the next generation of safety advances, which will go even further to save lives and prevent injuries. “Cars are benefiting from the explosion in computer processing power, and automakers are using that technology to make cars smarter and safer,” Fisher says. It’s also likely that new safety features will become more commonplace on vehicles as new federal policies encourage automakers to install them on the vehicles they sell. CR has tried early versions of many of these emerging features, and we’re confident that they will prevent crashes. “These technologies can help us eventually get to a point where road fatalities are a thing of the past,” Fisher says.
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CR.ORG
AUGUST 2021
SEE WITH COMPUTER VISION WHEN IT’S COMING: SOME VEHICLES SOLD IN EUROPE ALREADY HAVE VERSIONS OF AUGMENTED REALITY DISPLAYS. WE EXPECT SIMILAR FEATURES IN THE U.S. SOON.
