Experts say AEB, traction control a must

Yesterday we reported that safety features aren’t a top priority for first-time car buyers, but perhaps that’s because there’s some confusion about what a safe car is?

That’s the belief of the road safety advocates, Thatcham Research.

Responding to that story, Thatcham has released its list of essential safety features for a first car and its new safety tech, Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) and Electronic Stability Control (ESC), that they rank as highest priorities.

“AEB and ESC are second only to the seatbelt in terms of being life savers. says researcher Matthew Avery.

“They are critical in preventing the most common crashes that young drivers have.

“ESC works by preventing the vehicle going into a skid and possibly hitting a tree by automatically braking one wheel momentarily to steer the car back into line.

“AEB uses lasers, radars or cameras to sense if a collision might occur and warns the driver to brake.

“If the driver doesn’t react, the car will automatically brake to prevent or mitigate the collision.

“AEB is reducing rear-to-front crashes by about 40% and ESC is reducing fatalities from single vehicle crashes by 25%.”

And Mathew says there’s no reason not to have these technologies on a first car.

“My advice to parents is do not buy the oldest or cheapest car you can find.

“There are plenty of good deals out there for newer second-hand cars that have a five-star safety rating and are fitted with ESC and AEB as standard.”