Is Safety Technology Safe?

The last time you checked out a new car at Savannah Honda were you overly impressed with how high-tech the vehicle was?  Cars are becoming more and more technologically advanced, and while most of it makes our lives ultra convenient, is some of it hurting us at the same time? It is hard to question the safety reports about the cars at Oshkosh Chevrolet because they get such great ratings.  But as consumers, perhaps we need to be a bit more cautious and read between the lines of the safety features of our cars.  While what caused Toyota to recall their cars because of suspected acceleration problems is unclear (driver error or manufacturer fault), the fact that so many recalls have followed in the footsteps brings up the issue; is our safety technology really safe?

When you go to a place like Columbus Honda, the salesmen likely tell you about all the great features of the car; excellent fuel economy, low price, comfortable seats, luxurious amenities, and superb safety ratings.  One example is that some cars use a push button ignition system.  While it is rare that you would need to turn the car off quickly in an emergency (brakes go out or gas pedal gets stuck), the situations do arise.  How many of us would revert to our days of the past and quickly reach for a key in the ignition, only to find that there is no key there?  In our panic, it is impossible to tell how we would react.  The owner's manual of these brands like Toyota, Kia, and Audi say that you need to hold the ignition button down until the car turns off in a couple seconds. 

It is hard to discredit the technology too much.  The number of auto accident fatalities has greatly gone down over the past few years, and it is the technological advances that are responsible for saving lives.  Crash test ratings give us a great way to compare similar vehicles.

car safety, car technology, car safety technology