Old cars are bigger and heavier and, therefore, must be safer, right?
Before you trade in your Prius for a ‘57 Chevy, you might want to think about how safety considerations and crash technology have made cars safer, despite weight differences.
Today’s vehicles are designed with collision energy management. This means vehicles now absorb and then transfer the energy of a crash around the passenger compartment. Crumple zones, crush zones, or crash zones are built-in safety features that change the velocity and momentum of a crash. This is called controlled deformation. Basically, engineers do all they can to wrap you in bubble wrap (airbags) and let the rest of the car fold and wrinkle all around you. These areas even help airbag deployment by slowing down the impact to airbag zones, allowing the bags to fully deploy.
Reliable Repairs
That’s why it’s so important to have your repairs done by a Gold Class certified shop. This designation guarantees that all areas of a shop—Estimator, Non-Structural Technician, Steel Structural Technician, and Refinish Technician—understand how to get you and your car safely back on the road. Ongoing training is essential to keep pace with all the technology and advancements that keep you safe.
That ’57 Chevy may look cool, but it doesn’t have the new technologies that ensure you are as safe as possible as you drive. Adaptive cruise control measures how close you are to other vehicles and automatically slows you down when you are too close. Adaptive headlights sense when to turn on high beams and when to shut them off. Blindspot detection helps you with lane changes while lane departure warning and prevention stops you from unintended lane changes. Park assist and back over protection allow you to see and sense when a person or car is behind you. And forward collision avoidance keeps you safe when it senses slowed or stopped traffic ahead.
Of course, we love working on old cars, and will gladly help you out with your Bel Air. But if you have a modern car, we have the commitment and knowledge to give you personable service and the highest quality repairs possible because your safety is on the line. Schedule your next auto body repair online or call us at 707-591-9909 today!