Crash-avoidance tech such as Autonomous Emergency Braking and Lane-Keeping Assist, paired with life-saving staples like airbags and pretensioned seatbelts, form the blueprint for the safest cars on Australian roads. Put simply, the best car safety features work two ways: active systems help you steer clear of trouble, while passive systems shield you if a smash still happens. Selecting a vehicle that bundles both halves of that equation can slash your risk of serious injury or death.
Before we run through the fifteen must-have items, it helps to know how they’re assessed. ANCAP tests most new models sold here, grading everything from collision-avoidance performance to structural integrity. Yet five stars on a brochure won’t replace an alert driver, regular maintenance, and a solid insurance policy—think of them as the final layers in a well-built safety net. Let’s see which features deserve top billing.
1. Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)
Arguably the poster child of active safety, Autonomous Emergency Braking steps in when your foot doesn’t reach the pedal in time, buying precious milliseconds that often spell the difference between a scare and a smash.
What AEB Is and How It Works
Radar, camera or lidar sensors measure closing speed to traffic, cyclists, pedestrians or roos. If software predicts a smash, it warns first, then hits the brakes—city, inter-urban and pedestrian versions just differ in trigger speeds.
Proven Safety Benefits
ANCAP data shows rear-end collisions drop by roughly 40 % when AEB is fitted, and insurers increasingly reward the tech with lower excesses and premiums.
Buyer and Driver Tips
Open the settings menu to confirm AEB is active; most cars let you choose early, normal or late sensitivity. Keep sensors clean—rain, fog or dust can hamper performance.
2. Forward Collision Warning (FCW)
Next on our list of the best car safety features is Forward Collision Warning, a vigilant electronic lookout.
Core Functionality
Dash-mounted radar or camera measures the gap to traffic ahead and triggers visual, audible or steering-wheel vibrations when the closing speed becomes critical.
Why FCW Matters
The warning buys drivers one to two vital seconds; every half-second saved typically cuts impact speed by around 10 km/h.
Real-World Usage Advice
Tailor sensitivity in the settings menu for freeway cruising versus city stop-start traffic, and treat occasional false beeps as reminders to maintain healthy space.
3. Lane Departure Warning & Lane-Keeping Assist (LDW/LKA)
Drifting across a white line often starts with a micro-lapse—phone vibration, yawning, roadside billboard. Lane-support tech watches those lines so your mind can watch the traffic.
Distinguishing LDW from LKA
Lane Departure Warning simply chimes or flashes when the tyres kiss a marking. Lane-Keeping Assist adds a gentle steering nudge, using the electric power steering motor.
How It Improves Road Safety
Run-off-road and head-on crashes cause a third of Australian road deaths. ANCAP testing shows active lane-keeping cuts these incidents by double-digit percentages.
Practical Considerations
Temporarily disable during gravel detours or roadworks; recalibrate cameras after windscreen replacement and keep lens area clean of bugs and dust.
4. Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM)
Even with big side mirrors, a hatch can hide alongside you at 100 km/h. Blind Spot Monitoring is among the best car safety features for preventing that shock.
Technology Breakdown
Rear-corner radar sensors scan neighbouring lanes; a yellow icon glows in the mirror and escalates to beeps if you indicate.
Crash-Avoidance Benefits
By flagging hidden cars and bikes, BSM slashes lane-change sideswipes—especially critical for tall SUVs, vans and when towing.
Best Practices
Keep performing head checks; treat BSM as a backup, not a crutch. Clean bumper sensors from dust or salt.
5. Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA)
Reversing out of a tight parking spot is exactly when your view is worst. Rear Cross Traffic Alert acts as rear-ward radar, spotting danger long before you do.
How RCTA Sees What You Can’t
Twin rear-corner radars sweep a 30–50 m arc either side, calculating lateral speed and issuing visual or audible cues.
Safety Pay-Off
Studies show RCTA-equipped cars record far fewer car-park scrapes and driveway incidents, especially involving children or cyclists.
Usage Tips
Reverse slowly to give sensors time; wipe dust off bumper; don’t silence alerts because of occasional false bleeps.
6. Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)
Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) adjusts your speed to match traffic, turning marathon Aussie kilometres into a far calmer affair.
Intelligent Speed and Distance Management
Radar or camera sensors track the car ahead, keeping a set time gap and braking or accelerating; stop-and-go versions handle crawling traffic.
Benefits on Aussie Roads
It enforces safer gaps, cuts fatigue on Bruce Highway stretches, and can shave litres from your weekly fuel bill.
Limitations and Safe Use
ACC can hesitate on bends or in heavy rain, so stay alert; have the radar realigned after any front-end repair.
7. Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
Electronic Stability Control has been compulsory on every new Aussie passenger car since 2013, silently fixing wayward slides before you even notice the skid.
What ESC Does
Sensors track wheel speed and yaw; if the car begins to drift, ESC taps individual brakes and cuts power to pull it back into line.
Impact on Crash Statistics
Monash research credits ESC with up to a 67 % drop in single-vehicle crashes, delivering the biggest gains for tall SUVs on wet roads.
Driver Awareness
Flashing ESC lamp = active, solid lamp = fault. Disable only for deep sand or mud, and switch it back on before returning to tarmac.
8. Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) and Brake Assist
Stopping power still sits at the core of any crash-avoidance strategy, which is why ABS and Brake Assist remain two of the best car safety features you’ll find on almost every late-model vehicle.
ABS Fundamentals
Wheel-speed sensors and a hydraulic modulator pulse the brakes up to 15 times per second, preventing lock-up so the driver can steer around an obstacle rather than plough straight into it. Compared with old-school “cadence braking”, ABS reacts faster and works on all four wheels simultaneously.
Brake Assist Add-On
Software monitors how quickly you hit the pedal; a true panic stomp triggers full hydraulic pressure even if your foot hasn’t reached the floor. Tests show novice drivers often undershoot peak force—Brake Assist fills that gap and slices several metres off stopping distance.
Maintenance & Testing
Pedal vibration during a hard stop is normal feedback, not a fault. Follow the service schedule for brake-fluid changes, and investigate any illuminated ABS lamp immediately—sensor grime, damaged wiring or low fluid are common, inexpensive fixes.
9. Traction Control System (TCS)
Keeping Tyres Gripped
The Traction Control System quietly ranks among the best car safety features, trimming engine torque or pulsing brakes whenever sensors detect wheel spin under acceleration.
Everyday Advantages
It shines leaving slick lights, slippery boat ramps, wet tram tracks or gravel shoulders, stopping fishtails and extending tyre life.
Off-Road & Performance Notes
Disable briefly on deep sand to keep momentum, but re-engage before bitumen. Sports models offer user-selectable maps for track days.
10. Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)
Tyre pressure seems mundane, yet running just 5 psi low can lengthen stopping distance and chew through fuel.
Direct vs Indirect TPMS
Direct systems use valve-stem sensors to broadcast actual kilopascals; indirect setups infer pressure from ABS wheel-speed differences.
Safety & Economy Benefits
Correct inflation shortens braking, improves corner grip, lifts economy by around 3 %, and cuts blow-out risk on hot bitumen.
Ownership Tips
Re-calibrate after tyre-size changes, keep a spare sensor battery on remote trips, and check warnings rather than merely clearing them.
11. Adaptive Headlights and Automatic High-Beam
Head-lamp tech has moved well beyond sealed-beam globes. Modern adaptive systems swivel, dim and brighten on your behalf, giving you motorway-grade visibility even on unlit backroads.
Lighting That Follows the Road
Steering-linked projectors pivot a few degrees with the wheel, while clever matrix LEDs carve the beam around oncoming traffic, so you retain full brightness everywhere else.
Why Vision = Safety
Night travel makes up only a quarter of kilometres but 45 % of deaths; brighter beams buy precious braking distance.
User Guidance
Clean lenses, adjust height after heavy loads, and respect state-by-state head-light laws.
12. 360-Degree Camera Systems and Parking Sensors
At parking speeds, sheet metal is cheap next to a toddler’s safety or your excess. That’s where 360-degree cameras and parking sensors earn their keep, giving you a top-down view and audible cues without craning your neck or tapping a bumper.
Surround-View Explained
Four tiny lenses front, rear and mirror-mounted stitch a live bird’s-eye feed; ultrasonic pods supply distance beeps.
Preventing Low-Speed Incidents
This combo slashes driveway bumps, protects kids and pets, and keeps repair costs—plus premiums—way down.
Practical Usage
Clean cameras, calibrate guidelines for trailers, and never skip a head check.
13. Driver Attention Monitoring and Drowsiness Detection
Long drives can lull anyone into micro-sleep; attention monitoring tech spots the earliest drowsiness cues.
Technology Behind the Alerts
Infra-red cameras trace eyelid blink rate, steering-angle sensors log wandering corrections, and pressure mats sense posture shifts, combining data to trigger a coffee-cup icon or chime.
Role in Crash Prevention
Fatigue is blamed for roughly one in five fatal Australian crashes; early warnings give drivers minutes, not seconds, to pull over before performance nosedives.
Maximising Effectiveness
Schedule rest stops every two hours, obey dashboard prompts, and remove polarised sunglasses that can block infra-red sensors; update software during routine servicing.
14. Comprehensive Airbag Coverage: Front, Side, Curtain, Knee
Airbags are the last-line bodyguards that work in concert with seatbelts and crumple zones, cushioning occupants from hard surfaces in a fraction of a second.
Airbag Types and Placement
Most modern cars hide a fleet of inflators: dual front bags in the wheel and dash, side-thorax units in the seatbacks, full-length curtain bags along the roof rail, centre bags between front occupants, and knee bags under the column. Each deploys only when a dedicated sensor predicts its specific impact scenario.
Life-Saving Data
Government crash stats credit front airbags with a 29 % drop in driver fatalities, while curtain units cut rollover deaths by roughly 45 %. Wider coverage also helps protect out-of-position passengers and children in boosters.
Ownership & Maintenance
Never ignore an illuminated airbag lamp; it’s an MOT-failure-level fault and usually a cheap sensor fix. Check your VIN against outstanding recalls—Takata inflators are still being replaced free. Maintain at least a 25 cm gap between chest and wheel, and always buckle children under 12 in the back seat.
15. Seatbelt Pretensioners and Load Limiters
The humble lap-sash belt has been upgraded with clever pyrotechnics and calibrated “give”, turning a simple strap into a precision crash-energy manager.
Modern Seatbelt Engineering
Micro-charge pretensioners fire within ~20 ms, yanking slack from the belt so your body hits the airbag in the ideal posture. A split-second later, load limiters allow a measured 30–50 mm of webbing feed, bleeding off chest forces that would otherwise bruise ribs or tear internal organs.
Why Seatbelts Remain #1
Decades of data still show belts are the single biggest life-saver in any vehicle, with Australian figures citing up to 98 % lower fatal-injury risk when worn correctly.
Usage Reminders
Route the lap portion low across the hips, keep the sash untwisted, and replace any belt that’s been tensioned in a crash—fraying, slow retraction or warning lights are red flags.
Keeping Safety Front and Centre
Ticking every box on the “best car safety features” list is a brilliant start, yet technology can only do so much. The real safety dividend appears when active aids (to prevent the prang) and passive structures (to survive it) are paired with attentive driving, routine servicing, and tyres inflated to spec. Top all that with an insurance policy that won’t leave you sweating over repair bills or liability claims.
If you haven’t compared cover lately, now’s the moment. Run a quick quote with National Cover and see how comprehensive protection slots into your multilayer safety strategy—because peace of mind should ride shotgun on every journey.
