There are various features depending on which you can decide whether you should buy that vehicle or not. The car contains seat belts, roof structures, head restraints, windshields’ design and several other things that you should check to ensure safety. A test drive can make you well aware of your car irrespective of the fact that it is new or second hand.
1. Protection for head related Injury: The head protection is present under the trim of the interior of the vehicle and it contains the material like foam or something that can absorb energy. The vehicle occupants cannot see it. Some vehicles contain airbags for head protection. The head airbags are created to save your head during car rollovers and during side impacts. This protects your head from getting injured if it touches the upper interior of the car.
2. Seat belts: A seat belt keeps the occupants inside the vehicle during a car crash. It protects you from colliding with the dashboard, windshields or getting hit by the steering wheel. There are now more advancements in the seat belts.
For example, the upper strap is adjustable to fit the comfort and size of different individuals. The shoulder strap can be adjusted manually. Such comforting features encourage more people to follow car safety rules.
Energy Management: During a car crash, you are likely to get forced by the shoulder belt and that would lead to more pressure on your chest. The energy management yields during a car crash and prevents the forces produced by shoulder belts from concentrating on your chest too intensively. There are other features as well that provide much more comfort and protection.
3.Head restraints: The seats of our vehicle contain extensions that are designed to restrict the movement of your head during a car accident. These are known as head restraints. During the crash that has a rear impact, the occupants are likely to get neck injuries. You need to check whether the head restraints are meeting the strength and size requirements. They are not required in the rear but front seats. Some of the headrests contain automatic features and some need manual adjustments. It is better if you buy a car in which the head restraints adjust dynamically during a crash.
4.Air bags: On the basis of the object stiffness which hits your vehicle and the speed at impact, airbags inflate and thereby prevent you from colliding with the windshield, steering wheel or dashboard. The occupants are not prone to get hit by the door or object on the inflation of side airbags. Although if you are unbelted then the airbags can affect you in a negative way as well. If your car has front airbags then the need for seat belt persists and they do not protect you from rear, side-impact or during rollovers. The distance between the airbag and the breastbone should be 10 inches to reduce the risk of injury due to an airbag.
5.Traction control: You can control the drive wheels with good traction control. The traction control in cars helps in stabilising the vehicle when you induce excess power by controlling the amount to which the drive wheels might slip. The automated system during acceleration of the vehicle provides braking force to selective wheels and in some cases, the output of the engine power is adjusted. The cars that contain antilock brake systems generally have this feature.
Wrapping it Up
Other than these five features, there are brake systems, control for electronic stability, car weight that one should know about when buying a new or any second-hand car. You can check every single specification of a vehicle using a VIN decoder. VIN refers to Vehicle Identification Number. A VIN decoder like this will help you to get the complete history report of your vehicle. If there are any theft or police records related to accidents then you should be aware of it. You can get all intricate information that you are likely to require in the future after verifying these things.