The next time you see a vintage car owner’s club parked up somewhere, go and have a look at their vehicles. Focus on the safety features these vehicles had, or rather the lack of them.
Modern cars come with far more safety features than vehicles of the past. Many of those old cars did not even come with seat belts, let alone airbags, crumple zones and collision warning alerts. So why are people still being injured and dying in car crashes?
There are two principal reasons:
Not all manufacturing changes add to safety
Things like airbags, crumple zones and collision warning systems add to the safety of a vehicle. But some advances make vehicles more dangerous. For example, engines have become more efficient, meaning modern vehicles can more easily reach higher speeds than their predecessors. Reaching 70 mph was once a bone-juddering pedal-to-the-floor experience, whereas it’s almost effortless in many modern vehicles. Faster speeds make injury and death more likely.
The extra bulk and mass of modern vehicles, particularly SUVs, is another big problem. It makes them more lethal to other road users, especially cyclists and pedestrians, in a crash. Plus, the more extensive blind spots raise the risk of a collision.
Drivers get used to safety technology
Many drivers feel their car will protect them because of the safety features it has. This means they feel less vulnerable and are likely to push things further than if they were in a vehicle that they felt left them exposed.
With no end in sight to the prospect of death and injury on the road, understanding how to claim compensation remains something that every driver may need to learn more about at some point.