It's a Brave New World of Auto Safety

A fireman and paramedic in Los Angeles, Tim Mehringer has seen more crumpled Jettas, flipped-over Tahoes and pretzel-twisted Accords than he'd care to remember. So not surprisingly, when shopping for a new car, he made safety his top priority. If only it were that easy. He would've been content driving off in something with a sturdy steel frame and a full complement of airbags, but dealers kept pushing him toward a baffling array of new high-tech safety options: lane-departure alerts (average retail price: $565), blind-spot monitors ($430) and collision-warning systems ($2,250). Cars he looked at not only flash and beep but also monitor a driver's sight lines and even see past the next curve in the road. Of his new Volvo S40, Mehringer says, "We just went with all the standard equipment."

If Mehringer's dilemma doesn't sound familiar, it will soon enough. Car dealers are hawking a whole range of automated space-age features that promise not just to make drivers safer in the event of a collision but also to prevent accidents from happening. Forget seat belts and airbags. In showrooms today window stickers list pricey and confusing extras powered by lasers, infrared beams and "detection algorithms." A precollision system, for one, will automatically tighten seat belts and hit the brakes when it senses an impending crash. Night vision, offered by a few of the high-end marques for $2,000 or more, uses infrared or thermal-imaging technology (originally designed to help soldiers spot enemies in the dark) to let drivers see road hazards up to 1,000 feet ahead. Such special safety features represent the fastest-growing area of advanced automotive electronics, with demand growing 9% annually — nearly 10 times the rate of the overall new-car market.

The move to safety is hardly new, but the industry is feeling an extra push — first from aging boomers demanding an easier time on the road, and then from Washington, which is mandating a host of safer car features over the next five years. But it also doesn't hurt that the beleaguered car industry can actually make a few extra bucks while it's saving lives, since these new technologies can goose the price of a vehicle by several thousand dollars. (That blind-spot monitor, for instance, can cost as much as $700, a fivefold markup from wholesale.) Automakers also bundle new safety features into pricey packages. One example: Getting a special whiplash-reducing headrest in a BMW 5-series may require paying an extra $2,800 on a package that includes leather seats. "Our customers expect the highest level of safety," says a BMW spokesperson.

But how useful are these technologies? Do they actually make drivers safer? Or will dashboards across America be melting down with all the collective beeping, buzzing and flashing? New safety technologies can actually lead to riskier driving — either by distracting the driver with new information or by offering a false sense of security. And it's not unheard of for cameras and sensors to be thwarted by weather or provide overzealous alerts that cause drivers to turn them off in frustration. Even when the systems function properly, studies show that drivers may end up tuning out the warning signals or driving in ways that negate their benefits. "Sometimes these features work really well on the test track but fall flat on real streets," says Russ Rader, a spokesperson for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The classic case: antilock brakes. It's a standard feature on almost all new cars, and more than 70% of shoppers say they want it, according to Strategy Analytics. Yet more than a decade's worth of accident data from the Insurance Institute shows conclusively that it hasn't reduced overall fatalities. Indeed, in its first few years on the market, vehicles equipped with antilock brakes were disproportionately involved in certain types of fatal crashes. The problem isn't the technology, though; it's how people drive. Some drivers mistake the system's signature pulsing sensation for a mechanical malfunction and either ease up on the brakes or veer off the road.

Certainly, there have been safety successes. The new must-have system is electronic stability control, the only high-tech feature that has proven itself as a lifesaver. First introduced in the mid-'90s, it's particularly effective at preventing rollovers — the deadliest type of crash — cutting them by 84% for SUVs and 71% for cars, according to a 2007 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study. Two-thirds of new models feature it, and the feds have required that it be installed in all American cars by the 2012 model year.

But experts say consumers should proceed with caution if they're thinking about some of the more cutting-edge technologies. Drivers wanting to see farther around curves might be interested in adaptive xenon headlights ($800 on cars such as the Audi TT), which swivel with the vehicle. That is, unless they talk to James Sayer, a research scientist at the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute, who says "there isn't much benefit," since few accidents are associated with drivers speeding through curves. Ironically, by improving visibility these so-called smart beams could encourage people to drive faster — and more dangerously — at night. And by swiveling with the car, they may obscure that dog or cyclist on the road, creating a whole new hazard. "There's a lot less crash-reduction benefit than the manufacturers would like you to think," says Sayer. A spokesperson for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Wade Newton, declined to comment on adaptive headlights, saying only that a lot of these technologies are "things that automakers are continuing to refine and enhance."

Precollision technology has generated less debate. Available in mostly luxury marques and costing upwards of $2,000, the systems use radar (and sometimes lasers) to constantly monitor the road ahead. When they sense a crash coming — and the driver not responding — some beep or automatically intensify brake pressure. Some batten down the proverbial hatches, closing windows and sunroofs, adjusting seat positions, and tightening seat belts — all to prepare passengers to better absorb the force of an impact. Lexus's latest system has even added a small camera in the cabin to monitor the driver's face; if the onboard computer concludes that the driver is distracted and a crash seems inevitable, the precollision system kicks in. "Studies have shown very strong safety benefits for these systems," says Tim Brown, researcher at the University of Iowa's National Driving Simulator.

Perhaps the most futuristic — and dubious — add-on is night vision. An optional feature in pricey models like the BMW 5-series and Mercedes-Benz CL550, it uses heat sensors or infrared beams to detect animals and other objects that may not be visible with standard headlights; it then relays an image of the road on to a small screen in the cockpit. Despite conferring a James Bond kind of cool, night vision hasn't caught on; Cadillac and Lexus discontinued their versions due to poor sales. Sure, the technology works as advertised, but it also presents a fundamental driving dilemma: whether to look at the screen or the road. That's exactly the problem we encountered when testing the feature on a new Mercedes CL550. Worried about the distraction, we finally turned it off. "The jury's still out on night vision," says Sayer.

Then again, they haven't rendered a decision on blind-spot monitoring, either. A 2007 University of Iowa study found that the technology does help drivers change lanes more safely by flashing a small light or icon in the mirror or door post when vehicles enter a driver's blind spot. But the study's data came from a driving simulator, not real-world crash statistics. Out on the road bad weather has been known to discombobulate the systems' cameras. "In heavy rain it's not able to recognize an object coming at you," says a Volvo spokesperson. "It still needs fine-tuning." Even some car salesmen aren't fans. "If you're traversing a downtown street and get close to opposing traffic, it's constantly going off," says Raul Colón, former manager of Hudson Valley Volvo in Millbrook, N.Y. Sick of false alarms, Colón disabled the system. His solution: turning his head the old-fashioned way.