Not all cars are equal, some are safer than others, and we’ll give you a quick example before jumping into some more in-depth possibilities. When you buy a car, you probably don’t think too much about braking distance.
You might assume that all braking distances are the same, no matter what vehicle you buy. This isn’t true, and you’ll usually find that more expensive vehicles have better braking distances. Take the Bugatti Veyron as an example, one of the fastest supercars on the market. That car can go from 250 MPH to a complete stop in less than ten seconds. Now granted, you’ll have covered a third of a mile by that point, but you won’t be driving at that speed on the road. At normal speed, that car will stop in just a few meters. The Toyota Ago on the other hand? That’ll stop somewhere around forty meters.
As you can see then, braking distance is an important factor to consider when it comes to safety. And you just might want to spend a little more to get a better stat. Here are a few other traits to check.
Autopilot Options
Autopilot options aren’t quite as they sound. It doesn’t mean that you can sit back, watch a movie and let the car drive itself. A guy watching Harry Potter on the highway found this out the hard way. No, it means that the car has the power to take over the control if it thinks you’re going to crash. Thinks is the right word here too because it will be running calculations and looking at possibilities of different prevention maneuvers. So, if you don’t want to crash, getting a car with autopilot might be your best option.
Unfortunately, the number of cars that have this tech capability are still pretty limited. For the full software, you’re probably going to have to buy a Tesla, and that will cost you.
Air Bags
How many airbags are usually found in a car? Two, one on the driver’s side and one for the front passenger? Okay, how many in a Jag? Well, it could be more than four with at least two for the driver and a couple in the back. You might have heard that airbags can be dangerous in the backseat. Particularly, if you have little ones back there. However, in most motor vehicle accidents, airbags save more lives than they take. Why then do most cars only have two? Well, it’s all about money. That safety feature costs more than you would think.
Handling
Handling is another factor of the car that isn’t just about driving fast. It’s about how safe the car is at high speeds, and we’re not talking past the speed limit here. Rather we’re thinking about turning to avoid a hazard at around sixty or seventy miles per hour. You might think, surely any car can manage that but don’t be so sure. With a tight turn, most cars will lose control even at average speed levels. Again, it’s the sports cars that come out on top here. They’re designed for taking sharp turns without a loss of control.
So, what have we learned? Well, you might just be safety in a hot two-seater speedster rather than your average family saloon.
