Seatbelts and Other Car Safety Features

The most important part in looking for a new or used car is test-driving. While test-driving, you should examine the features of the car, making sure of its safety. Check the seat belt. Does it fit you well and make you feel comfortable? You should also check the head restraints, roof structures, and windshield designs. Drive the car at night to check whether the headlights are working.

One of the important safety features of a car is the seatbelts. The seatbelts are designed to prevent you from colliding with the steering wheel, dashboard or windshield. Adjustable upper seat belts allow you to change the position of the shoulder strap to fit your size, increasing comfort. Seat belt pretensioners are designed to pull you back in case of an impact or sudden crash while shoulder belts are especially designed for children who sit in the rear center position.

Your car should also have an air bag. A front air bag prevents the occupants from hitting the dashboard, steering wheel and windshield while a side air bag prevents the occupants from hitting the door or objects that crash through it.

Edmonton auto dealers make sure that your car also has head restraints. Head restraints are extensions of the vehicle seat. They are designed to limit head movement during a crash or collision, hence reducing neck injury.

Edmonton auto dealers also provide an antilock brake system in the cars they sell. This brake system prevents a vehicle’s wheels from locking when you suddenly brake out of panic. This gives the driver to have greater steering control to avoid a collision. All cars such as sport utility vehicles, trucks and vans are equipped with an antilock brake system. Some of the cars’ antilock brake system is designed to sense an emergency braking by measuring the speed or force the driver adds when stepping on the brake pedal.

Cars the Edmonton auto dealers sell also have traction control systems that come with the antilock brake systems. These traction control systems enhance vehicle stability by controlling the amount the drive wheels can slip when excess power is applied. They automatically adjust the engine power output and in some systems, they provide braking force to selected wheels during acceleration.