Safety Features Used in Cars
- Designed "crumple zones" are areas of a car made to absorb impact and reduce the force felt by passengers during an accident.
- Interior features are made soft and/or collapsible to protect passengers during an accident. A collapsible steering column is standard on all cars and protects the driver from chest trauma in a front-end collision. Padded dashboards and interior surfaces also help protect occupants from injury.
- Safety glass reduces crash danger.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of dno1967
Windshield safety glass is required on all cars sold in the U.S. and features two layers of glass held together by a "sandwiched" plastic laminate. In an accident, the glass will crack, but will not shatter or fly out of place. - This newer safety feature is required for both frontal occupants on all U.S.-sold vehicles since 1998. Side airbags may or may not be present in some vehicles. The airbag is effective in reducing the severity of injury in frontal collisions.
- Seat belts have been critical in reducing the severity of accident injury. As of 2009, their use is required in every U.S. state. They have been proven to dramatically reduce injury and prevent death in a wide range of accident types.
