Circuit: Top Safety Feature For The Future

One of the outstanding discoveries in the auto industry is the safety belt. But an equally-critical auto safety feature will soon hit the roads – the circuit – and it will also be mandatory. Experts at National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the circuit may be crucial to motorists’ survival just like the safety belt.

In the 1960s the discovery of the revolutionary seat belts made the automotive industry a bit relieved. The said discovery paved the way for the significant reduction in fatalities linked to crashes. Nowadays, a remarkable auto safety feature is expected to reach what seat belts have accomplished. It is not one of the features shoppers find in Chevy Caprice; it is something revolutionary.

The NHTSA has implemented a standard making the circuit or electronic stability control (ESC) equipment mandatory in all vehicles. The government safety agency estimated that the universal adoption of the ESC by 2011 will save 10,000 lives annually.

Already standard on select luxury vehicles, ESC is just one of the many auto safety technologies engineered to avoid accidents rather than protect occupants from them. Most of these newfangled features are microchip based and build on the increasing electronic sophistication of vehicles, reported MSNBC. But not all of them have achieved the “technological maturity,” a term used by state engineers when the feature is still to be perfected. However, ESC can already work reliably and affordably.

NHTSA Administrator Nicole R. Nason told a Congressional committee last fall that electronic technologies were poised for the first time to make as important a contribution to safety as physical measures such as seat belts and bumpers. “I believe the most promising gains in highway safety are going to come from the deployment of crash-avoidance technologies,” Nason said. “Today the technology exists not only to ameliorate the severity of a crash, but to help prevent it outright.”

Nason’s list of future auto safety technologies includes forward-collision warning systems, lane-departure warning and blind-spot warning devices. “But the crash-avoidance technology that holds the greatest promise is electronic stability control,” she said.

The chain is apparent. First is invention, then adoption; finally, there’s the legislation making the technology mandatory.

Automakers are finding ways to strengthen their lineup by offering stylish, functional and efficiently performing lineups without sacrificing safety. Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota Motor Corp., is stressing safety features as part of a common system by promoting its Vehicle Dynamic Integrated Management package composed of smart cruise control, lane-departure warning and ESC technologies.

Ford Motor Co. calls sophisticated safety systems as “co-drivers.” Other automakers, meanwhile, call them “assistants.” Mercedes-Benz said that in its lineup, technology will never take control out of the hands of the human driver. In the future, more safety technologies are expected to unfold.

Anthony Fontanelle is a 35-year-old automotive buff who grew up in the Windy City. He does freelance work for an automotive magazine when he is not busy customizing cars in his shop.