Learn The Carlingo: Car Safety Terminology Explained

As a fast-moving bit of kit, cars have a big responsibility to keep not only their occupants safe at such speed, but those around it too. On the search for your next used car, you may be coming up against lots of car safety terminology, particularly when it comes to the technology on board. 

Not only will knowing what these terms mean help you in your search for the perfect car, but it’ll also help you understand how it works when you’re at the wheel too. In the latest in our Learn The Carlingo series, we’re looking at some of the most common car safety terms to help you get to grips with them…   

Adaptive Cruise Control 

You’ll probably be familiar with cruise control, where you set the vehicle to carry on ‘cruising’ at the speed you set it at; this historically has been higher speeds on stretches of open road. 

Development in this clever technology has been taken up to the next level in recent years, allowing the vehicle to automatically ‘adapt’ to fit with the flow of traffic in terms of speed, and the driver to set the distance they want to keep from the driver in front. This system uses lasers and sensors to scan the road ahead for hazards and obstacles. 

AEB (Autonomous Emergency Braking) 

One of the most significant advances in car safety technology in the last 15 years or so has been Autonomous Emergency Braking, which does what it says on the tin: brakes on your behalf if it detects immediate risk in front of the car. 

While features such as seatbelts and airbags protect you in the event of a collision, AEB acts for you to prevent it in the first place, and it is now, in fact, compulsory on every new car built. 

Airbags

Located in areas within your car that your body may come into contact with during a collision, airbags deploy on impact to soften the blow. They consist of inflatable cushions, and once the collision has happened, they deflate again to allow occupants to leave the vehicle. 

Attention Monitoring

This technology is constantly focused on the driver’s behaviour, detecting instances in which they show signs of inattentiveness and alerting them to take a break. It only takes a split second and slow reactions to cause a serious incident on the roads, and tiredness can kill; Attention Monitoring works to prevent this.   

Blind Spot Monitoring

Using sensors to work out what’s approaching in the driver’s blind spot (that’s the bit over their shoulder), blind spot monitoring alerts the driver to another vehicle’s presence before they change lanes. It’s usually an audible or visual alert, which can usually be seen on its door mirrors.

Euro NCAP

If you’ve not come across Euro NCAP in your search for your next car, it’s time to get acquainted, particularly if car safety tech is top of your shopping list. 

Euro NCAP is an independent body set up to test and rate new cars using a series of crash tests to evaluate the impact of a collision on both occupants and vulnerable road users (more on those later). 

A 5-star rated vehicle is one that provides excellent protection, and it’s those cars that you should look out for. The Euro NCAP website allows consumers to search for vehicles, so it’s easy to narrow down your search.

ISOFIX

Doing battle with a child’s car seat is many parents’ main bugbear with their cars, and if you’re one of those who frequently need to transport little ones, you may already be aware of ISOFIX.  

ISOFIX is the international standard attachment for child restraint systems, making it easier to install compliant seats. They also, crucially, reduce the risk to the child in the event of an accident that an incorrectly installed seat can cause. 

Lane Support Systems

Rather than being a specific feature, there are a number of lane support systems that fall under that umbrella term, all designed to keep you on the straight and narrow. 

Lane Keep Assist is one of the most widely used lane support systems, which physically corrects your car’s road positioning if it veers across white lines (using lasers to detect them). There’s also a Lane Departure Warning, which simply alerts the driver using sound and a warning light if they’re at risk of drifting. 

Speed Assistance

It’s not a secret that excessive speed causes catastrophic accidents on the roads, so Speed Assistance technology stops vehicles from creeping above the speed limit. How does the car know what the speed limit is? It uses GPS information and/or video detection - clever! 

Vulnerable Road Users

When it comes to a car’s safety credentials, you’ll often see vulnerable road users referred to in terms of how adequately a car protects them. Think of VRUs as those less protected by vehicles, such as pedestrians (especially children, the elderly, and anyone that is disabled), cyclists, and horse riders. 

Find a five-star rated car here at Carlingo 

We’re fond of a vehicle with added extras, so you’ll see that a lot of the cars at Carlingo come with some of the technology we’ve mentioned above - you’ll find a fair few of them are 5-star rated too. 

We have a range of makes and models on display here at Carlingo, and we invite you to explore them either online, or at our fresh, modern showroom here in Harrogate. Chat to us about the safety features included on the cars you’re interested in - we’ll be happy to talk you through what it's got.