Cars have continually been made safer as time has gone on. The good news is that new technology has enabled many more car safety features to be enabled, and we're starting to see the fruits of these labours in new cars. Although the new technology today does cost a lot more than recent years, we are most definatly better protected in our cars today.

It is heartening to know that many of these features are made available as standard in new cars. Some are clearly more expensive than others, but often a safety feature (no matter what the cost) will lower the insurance premium you have to pay. So in a sense many of them will pay for themselves in time.

Let's look at some of the advances that have been made recently.

More airbags

Most of us are familiar with airbags installed in the front of cars nowadays. They inflate in front of the driver and passenger in the event of an accident. But now there are side airbags and what are known as curtain airbags as well. This latter addition is installed above the passenger and driver, to protect their heads should an accident occur.

A stronger roof

If a car rolls you want to know the roof will protect you instead of squashing flat. Obviously this is something that is built into the car rather than something you can add, but it's worth investing in a new car that has the capability to protect you.

Blind spot monitors

A blind spot can be dangerous and lead to an accident. While some cars come with this system pre-installed, it can be bought separately to add to any car. You can go cheap and spend a few pounds on a blind spot mirror, or spend a few hundred pounds on a proper system with cameras.

AEB systems

This stands for autonomous emergency braking, and the system is set to come into use in the near future. Cameras and radar among other technologies are being put to good use to enable a car to stop if it senses a pedestrian in its path. This should help to cut down on the number of pedestrian involved accidents that occur. Even if the driver does not see a pedestrian the new technology will cut the risks of an accident.

Run flat tyres

This is one of the more accessible and useful items that technology advances have provided us with. Normally when you get a puncture the whole tyre can rapidly deflate, increasing the chances of an accident. You might have just a second or two to register what has happened before you have to control the car and bring it safely to a stop.

But run flat tyres won't deflate in this way. They'll stay up enough so you can carry on driving and then get them replaced as soon as possible. So they make a practical addition to any car as well as a safety conscious one.

You can probably see that investing in more and more of these safety features - whatever the price - is a smart way to protect you and your family whenever you go out and about in your car.