Jersey Shore Personal Injury and Employment Specialists

Can older cars be retrofitted with safety technology?

On Behalf of | Apr 27, 2017 | Car Accidents |

If you live in Monmouth County and drive an older model car, you may be wondering whether many of the safety features available on newer cars can be added to yours. Buying a new vehicle is not always feasible for many people or perhaps you have personal reasons for holding on to your car instead of trading up. The good news is that some of the main safety technologies available on new cars can be easily added to older model cars.

According to ABC News, one of the most important features of cars today is forward collision warning systems. While these do not actually prevent accidents from occurring, they do alert drivers that a collision is imminent, giving them time to react. Crashes are 27 percent less likely to occur when these types of systems are used.

Another important feature is backup cameras. While they can be added to any car, they will become mandatory on all new cars beginning in 2018. The other key item that many new cars come equipped with is blind spot detection, which warns a driver when something is in the way when they are trying to change lanes.

Whether it is worth upgrading an old car will depend largely on your budget. If you were already planning on keeping and maintaining your vehicle for a while, you could add these features for a few hundred dollars. The price of these technologies is coming down as they become more mainstream, so they will not drastically increase the price of a new car. This information on this topic is general in nature and should not be considered legal advice.