Safety Technology
Advanced safety technologies provide consumers with improved vehicle innovations that save lives. These new technologies are capable of eliminating 94 percent of fatal crashes involving human error.
Today, many new vehicles offer Automatic Emergency Braking, which can sense danger ahead and apply the brakes to prevent crashes. In the not-too-distant future, automated safety technologies will use on-board sensors, GPS, cameras, and telecommunications to “see” the world around them and help us drive safely through it. Explore new and emerging forms of safety technology below.
Safety Technology Topics Overview
Learn about NHTSA’s efforts to save lives and keep our roads safe using automated safety technologies.
Discover V2V communications and how vehicles may one day be able to avoid crashes and ease traffic congestion by communicating directly with one another.
Understand the importance of vehicle cybersecurity and how this form of technology can help protect your vehicle against unwanted interference (e.g., hackers).
Today’s Safety Technologies: Moving Toward Driverless Vehicles
Check out the evolution of safety technology in this downloadable infographic (PDF 898 KB).New and Emerging Safety Technologies Q&A
Learn about new and emerging safety technologies through our question and answer pages.
Recommended Technologies
These safety technologies are recommended if they meet NHTSA’s performance specifications. Look for these features when shopping for a new vehicle.
- Automatic Emergency Braking
This technology works with Forward Collision Warning to assist the driver in avoiding a collision with another vehicle or object by automatically applying the brakes. - Forward Collision Warning Systems
Using forward-looking sensors, this technology warns the driver of an impending collision so the driver can brake or steer to avoid the collision. - Lane Departure Warning Systems
Using a camera system to track a vehicle's position in relation to lane markings on the road, this technology warns the driver of unintentional lane shifts. - Rearview Video Systems
More commonly known as backup cameras, this technology helps the driver see behind the vehicle to avoid backing over people when moving in reverse.
Other Safety Technologies
- Automatic Crash Notification
Immediately following a crash, this technology notifies emergency responders that a crash has occurred and provides them the location of the crash. - Lane Keeping Support
This technology brings the vehicle back to the middle of its lane when the driver fails to respond to a warning that the vehicle is drifting. - Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking
This technology alerts the driver of an impending crash with a pedestrian, and can automatically apply the brakes to help avoid impact.
