Make your life easier If you’re like most people, you don’t read the owner’s manual. You know how to drive your car and you figure that’s all you really need to know. However, there are some surprising vehicle features you should be aware of because they can make your life easier – and safer. These include:

1. Electronic Parking Brake
2. Hill Start Assist Control
3. Back Up Camera

Electronic Parking Brake You might be thinking, “Really? Everything is becoming electronic these days! What’s the advantage of making electronic what can be done so easily? Are people that lazy?

1. While an electric parking brake isn’t necessary per se, there are a number of advantages.
2. It takes up less room than a brake handle.

It’s also safer. The car decides to brake rather than the user. You might think you know when it’s appropriate to break, but let’s face it, there are some scary drivers on the road. If vehicles come equipped with electronic parking brakes, there is less chance of “operator error” that causes something such as a vehicle rolling down a hill and causing an accident. Hill Start Assist Control While most of us are perfectly capable of braking, there’s a time gap between releasing the brake and applying the accelerator that you might not have considered. Hill start assist prevents roll-back when starting your car on an incline. Hill start assist will hold the break on momentarily while your foot moves from the break to the gas. Without this technology, during the switch your car could roll back (or forward) and hit another car before you can apply the gas to pull away. Simply put, hill start assist holds the break for you while you move between peddles. Back Up Camera Wouldn’t it be great if the next generation didn’t know what a “blind spot” meant? Safety would be standard. Luckily, this is already becoming a reality. Companies such as Vehicle Interface and Uconnect have designed cameras so drivers can monitor what’s going on behind them in what would otherwise be their blind spot. This technology comes in especially handy when you’re backing out of the driveway. Every year in the U.S., some 292 people are killed and 18,000 are injured by drivers backing up. Daunting numbers that can be avoided. Young children in the driveways of their own homes are especially at risk because of their height. When children are sitting down, they’re even harder to see. The elderly are also at an elevated risk. Large blind zones prevent drivers from seeing objects behind the rear bumper. The average blind zone is anything within about 27 feet of the rear bumper. This means glancing back and using mirrors isn’t enough if an object – or a person – is close enough. SUVs and pickup trucks typically have the biggest blind zones and are involved in more back over accidents than cars. Backup cameras reduced the blind zone by about 90 percent in one study. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) may require cameras on passenger vehicles in the future. Look to the future! Car designers have used technology to make vehicles safer and more convenient. Think about what features you might when shopping for your next ride! Contact us Call or stop by Thelen Auto Group and ask us about the latest features for more information or a demonstration. We’re happy to provide more information to help you decide which features are right for you! Links: https://oppositelock.kinja.com/in-defense-of-the-electronic-parking-brake-1444951189 https://mycardoeswhat.org/safety-features/hill-start-assist/ http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/preventing-driveway-tragedies-rear-cameras-help-drivers-see-behind-them