Welcome to 2020! Congratulations on making it into a new decade. Milestones are a great time for looking back and looking forward, so we wanted to take the opportunity to do just that. We’re reflecting on vehicle safety advancements in the past several decades and looking ahead at the advancements coming down the road (pun semi-intended).
The most important and groundbreaking vehicle safety developments between 1950-2000 were seat belts, cruise control, and antilock braking systems. The National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that from 1960-2016, seat belts saved 329,715 lives: more than all other safety features combined. (By the way, this is why the NHTSA and other national, state, and local agencies continue to campaign for seat belt usage!)
From 2000-2020, key safety advancements included blind spot detection, rearview video systems, and driver assistance features such as lane departure warnings and automatic emergency braking.
What’s next? Of course, we’ve all heard about automatic cars, but it’ll be a good many years before fully automated cars are on our roads. Between now and then, however, you can expect to see more and more automated features equipping new vehicles. Vehicle manufacturers are developing and testing essential technology for features like highway autopilot, traffic jam assistance, self-parking, and much more.
So here’s to 2020 and beyond. Wear your seatbelt, welcome breaking developments, and explore the future. Safely.