Safety on the roads is extremely important and while you may be the driver that follows the rules of the road, there are other drivers out there who drive by their own rules. So, in the chance that you are part of an accident, which is not your fault, you need to make sure you are still as protected as possible in the situation.
And the answer isn’t always to buy a new car that has all the latest technology. You can decide on the safety features that you think will work best for you and add it to your second-hand Ford. It will be hard to find a car with every feature but, in most cases, you’ll find you don’t really need them all.
Here are some of the best safety features that can be added to your vehicle to make your journeys on the road safer ones.
Blind spot detection
Not checking one’s blind spot is the cause of many accidents and drivers, over the years, have got extremely lazy when it comes to checking their blind spots. To be fair, the exercise of taking your eyes off the road in front of you while driving at 120km on the highway to see what’s happening behind you isn’t exactly the safest of actions. Not to mention that some people’s steering wheels tend to turn where their heads go and that’s, obviously, not ideal.
But it’s still incredibly important to check your blind spots. That’s why there are blind spot detection sensors and systems that can be installed in your car to check your blind spot areas for you. Then you will either receive a warning light signal or sound to let you know it’s not okay to go. This technology requires a professional auto electrician to be installed, so you can start budgeting for that cost as well.
If the latest blind spot technology is too much for you, then you can simply add blind spot mirrors onto your side mirrors that will expand your view and save you from doing a 180 degree twist to check those blind spots before turning and changing lanes.
Lane departure warning
A feature that should be linked to your blind spot detection sensors is a lane departure warning. While it monitors your blind spots it will warn you if you are travelling over the lane markers while there is a vehicle in your blind spot.
On its own, it signals when you drive over line markers without using your indicator. This feature is great for driving on the highway and making sure you indicate your intentions when it comes to changing lanes. It’s not always second nature to put our indicators on, especially when we know there are no cars in the immediate area, but it’s still a necessity because you don’t know who may come flying down the road behind you.
Backup camera
Parking lots can get extremely busy and when you’re in a rush to get home after a grocery run, you hardly think twice about reversing – you’re the one in the big car, people must look out for you. Unfortunately, you need to be on the lookout for people when your car is in reverse, children especially because their heads don’t always feature in your rearview mirror.
Pedestrians aren’t always the most spatially aware people and can easily get caught up on their own thoughts that they don’t realise you’re in the process of reversing even if it seems to you that they’ve seen you. With a back up camera, you can be 100% sure that the coast is clear and you can safely reverse.
Forward-collision warning
Now that you’ve covered the back, it’s time to consider the front. Many drivers are comfortable with the size of their car and can tell what’s “too close” for them. The problem with still going as close as you comfortably can to the car in front of you – at a traffic light or in the fast lane – is that if a car behind you bumps into you, you’re responsible for hitting the car that’s in front of you. Unfair? Possibly. But it can be easily resolved if you’ve left enough space between you and the vehicle ahead of you.
That’s where forward-collision warning systems come into play. They let you know when you’re getting too close to the car in front of you. More than that, it can also act as a lane departure warning system, pedestrian detection, speed monitor, and an automatic brights-dimmer for when a car is coming up ahead of you. It’s almost an all-in-one system for you and your vehicle’s safety.
A few extras
A few other features to add to your second-hand car include Bluetooth for handset-free communication while driving. A tracker system in the event of an emergency or accident. And smash and grab tint and glass protection for your windows that will keep your car off the heist priority list is a good idea.
