Are Cars Becoming Safer?

As it stands now, there are approximately 54 million vehicles facing recall. That number is insane. Sure, some of those recalls may be minor. Yet others, deal with serious issues, such as ignition and airbags. In 2014, American automakers spent a good amount of time focusing on safety. However, even with this newly inspired focus, we have still seen dozens of deaths. The good news is that highway deaths are down 40% from their peak in 1970.

What are some of these efforts to make cars safer? Well, for starters the latest vehicles are built better to survive crashes and potentially avoid them from the start. Backup cameras and safety systems all help make the ride better, which is why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will soon make these standard gear in new cars.

Then there is the talk about self driving cars. Nissan claims it hopes to have a self driving car on the road by 2020. Cadillac is racing to meet this goal in 2016. The intention is good. If a human is not driving the car, the computer can not get into a situation that it needs to react to and fewer accidents occur. But what about all the humans that are still on the road with older models? Surely no one is going to buy everyone a self driving car to irradiate accidents. It is a start, which is where everything must begin to cause a change. By the time our children's children are born, maybe there will be no auto accidents. We can only hope.