The Cooper Firm

Advanced air bags that contain sensors that consider vehicle speed, occupant size and seat position to determine the speed at which the airbag will inflate. These are not the old airbags of yesteryear. The advances made are critical to avoid being injured by the airbag itself, particularly for small-framed people and children.

Side impact and side curtain airbags are generally offered only for the front seats, but some manufacturers have them in the back as well. These offer protection for the head in a side impact accident and helps to keep occupants in the vehicle in rollovers.

Antilock braking systems (ABS) give the driver shorter stopping distances and the ability to steer in emergency situations, by keeping the wheels from locking up. Also look for Brake Assist which adds force to the braking in emergencies and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution which distributes the braking power evenly among the four wheels for quicker stops.

Tire pressure monitoring system. When a tire is under-inflated, it is much more likely to fail. While these are excellent safety features, nothing replaces eyeballing the tires yourself.

Rear mounted cameras or rear parking sensors are particularly nice features for larger vehicles such as SUVs and minivans whose blind spots are larger.

Active head restraints are head rests that automatically move forward in a rear end collision to meet the occupants head to help avoid neck injuries.

Child seat compatibility: Before buying a car, bring your child safety seat to the dealership to make sure the seat fits when it is facing the rear of the car and that the seat belts in the car can be tightened all the way down. All cars from 2002 and later come with LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children).

Stability control is an important feature that monitors the correlation between the drivers steering and how closely the car’s path is matching the desired path. This feature can apply braking to a particular wheel or reduce the engine’s power to prevent skidding in emergency maneuvers.

Automatic crash notification calls emergency personnel immediately upon an accident happening. The system automatically notifies them of your location. These systems can also be used for roadside assistance. Onstar is one such system. Lexus, Mercedes and BMW also offer their own version.