Gadgetory

here's your new safety tech checklist when buying a car rear cameras they'll be mandatory in all new cars by May 20 18 meanwhile they're becoming pretty common but look for differentiating features like a variable angle rear cam a front cam or surround view cameras cross traffic alert this warns of cars that are about to t-bone you as you creep out of a blind spot if another vehicle is approaching from the side the system notifies you with warning lights in the side mirrors and a warning beacon adaptive or smart cruise control this maintains not just speed but the distance between you and the car ahead cruise control without this is beginning to seem like unguided missile mode forward collision technology it'll either warn you and lights up a warning on the dash and sounds an alarm to alert the driver to the vehicle ahead and there's the warning or actually apply the brakes when you're closing too fast on something in front of you and there's the auto break people stop by itself the insurance industry has found that either version of this can make a real difference in the rate of claims lines v tach like forward collision it will typically warn you of a car in your blind spot you'll see an Amber icon illuminated in the mirror to the same side as the overtaking vehicle and on a few cars it will take active measures to keep you from drifting into its path Blind Spot Assist can take active measures by applying the brakes on the wheels on the opposite side of the vehicle the vehicle is steered out of the danger zone lane departure tech also available as a passive warning or a corrective version note the calibration of this when you take a car on a test drive this is set at the factory and some are just sort of off adaptive headlights these steer with a car's turn they can buy you up to 15 feet of reaction time at 30 miles an hour that's about 7 pedestrian whips 6 more than you need to avoid hitting so object detection this calls out people or animals straying into your path especially at night that you may not see a variant of this is night vision display which gives you a real-time infrared view of the road ahead it's night vision the driver sees approximately three times further than is possible with conventional low beam lights the display shows the driver a clear black-and-white image of the driving scene drowsiness warning this one is still fairly rare drowsy driver alert systems use a variety of sensors and cameras to monitor your driving behavior new innovations in this area are coming a few model years down the road most of these technologies are factory installed and not something you can retrofit so it pays to double check if your next car offers them or if the other car on your list does more realities of modern driving revealed now at CNET on cars comm click on smarter driving