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We all have dreams of fancy cars, ones that we can race down the coast with the wind whipping through our hair. But those dream cars, often come with a bit of a sticker shock and come with a dream budget. They may be within the your shopping budget, but the flashy cars may not be perfect for your family (or if you’re looking to start one).
For me, besides leg room for our above average family, I’m always trying to compare the best safety features when I’m looking for a car that checks every box on my “want” and “need” list, I often go to Cars.com. It not only allows me to see what cars are actually within my budget, but let’s me choose what features are most important and compare them to other cars that might not have been on my original list.
Seat belts are required and standard in every car on the market now, but when you start looking for the best safety features – you may need to dig a little to find out what it all means. Here our our top five safety features we’re looking for in our next family vehicle(s).
Car Seat Anchors – I once I had a man on a car sales lot try to get me to buy a car by telling me that it had connections and space for three car seats in the back seat at once. I think he missed the market. The most I’ve had back there has been two and it’s usually friend’s kids. But having this is important to us, since in the past I’d pick up my nephew and be on the go with him.
Air Bags – Yes, they’re up front in the steering wheel and the front passenger side. But have you noticed that cars actually have curtain ones (that go over the windows) and some that help protect your knees? While they wont guarantee you wont be injured in an accident, they certainly will reduce the impact some and can save your life.
Roll Bars – I use to think this was just for Jeeps and other vehicles that are taken off of the road a lot. But over the years have found out that many SUVs, cars and even trucks have this built inside. The steel reinforced bars help protect you if you are in a roll over accident.
Proximity Detection – While the feature sometimes can annoy me while driving, I do like the proximity detection feature on a car. Not only can it tell you when you’re too close to the car in front of you, but it can also catch when someone is in your blind spot and too close. It’s the same idea with the backup camera alerting you if someone got behind your car while you were backing up and were just out of view. It gives you an extra set of eyes on the road and helps out a lot.
Speed Control Setting – Ok, so this is more if you have a new driver in the home, and they will probably hate you for it – but it will give you a little peace of mind. In some newer cars you can set a driver profile towards to the key that is inserted and with it certain driving restrictions. You can control the maximum speed the driver can go, and even choose to get alerts if they have went outside a certain boundary. You can see where the driver is on a map, and if they are near the area they are suppose to be.
Safety features are important no matter what size your family is and what stage your family is at, so finding out what is most important for you is a very personal choice. But be sure to do your research on each and every car you are considering to make sure it fits your requirements. And using that compare tool on Cars.com makes it so much easier to narrow down the top cars for your growing family.
Do I still want that G90 or a Bentley? Absolutely, and until I can afford one and it fits the every need of our family – I will keep dreaming. Until then, safety is going to be the #1 factor I look at for a family vehicle.
