Singapore Car Guide: How safe is your car?

ST701 Cars Vertical > Guides & Articles > Road Safety Etiquette

How safe is your car?
By: Goh Mei Yi
Published: May 20, 2006
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Don't overlook safety features when you’re shopping for a new car. Although no vehicle can guarantee absolute protection in an accident, some vehicles can offer more than others. What safety features should you look out for?

Common ones include:

Anti-lock brake system (ABS)

ABS helps a driver maintain steering control during emergency hard braking. Wheel-speed sensors at each wheel and a computer coordinate braking action, rapidly pulsing the brakes on and off when you hit the pedal hard. This allows the driver to retain steering control while braking, so that the car can be manoeuvred around an obstacle, if necessary.

Air bags

Sensors connected to an onboard computer detect a frontal collision and trigger the air bags to cushion passengers from the crash impact. Apart from front air bags, an increasing number of vehicles offer side airbags that give protection in side crashes, and curtain airbags that pop out of the ceiling in side or rollover crashes.

Head restraints

Head restraints are vital for guarding against whiplash neck injuries that often accompany a rear-end collision. Restraints need to be tall enough to cushion the head above the top of the spine.

Safety belt

Three-point lap-and-shoulder belts offer the most protection in a crash. Comfortable belts are important so that people feel encouraged to wear them. Adjustable upper anchors help to position the belt across the chest instead of the neck to prevent neck injuries.

Pre-tensioners instantly retract the belts to take up slack during a frontal impact and position occupants properly for the deploying airbag. Force-limiters relax the safety belt tension slightly following the initial impact to prevent the belt from causing chest and internal injuries.

LATCH system for child seats

The conventional method of attaching a child seat using the vehicle's safety belts may not always ensure a good fit. Some cars have a system called LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) which helps you attach a child seat more securely and more easily, without having to use the vehicle's seat belt.

Electronic stability control (ESC)

This system helps keep the vehicle on its intended path during a turn, to prevent sliding or skidding. If a vehicle begins to go out of control, the system selectively applies brakes to one or more wheels and cuts engine power to keep the vehicle on its intended course.

Brake assist

Research has shown that drivers tend to hesitate when braking in emergencies, and don’t step on the brake firmly enough to bring the vehicle to a complete stop.

A brake assist system monitors the driver’s brake pedal usage pattern. As it gathers the information, it is able to recognise when the brakes are applied much faster than usual. It interprets this as a critical situation and automatically provides additional braking force.

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