Yes, vehicles over the last decades have become extremely advanced in technology such as in car internet, and various multimedia player systems that make time in ones car more enjoyable.  Organizational storage such as under floor bins has made car travel easier.  Also over the last few years auto makers have figured out how to get more mileage out of conventional gasoline engines, as well as making use of hybrids.  But one of the most important advancement in automobile production is the improvement of safety features.  It took much from the government before the automakers would agree to expensive new measures to make your vehicles safer.  Yet, today, front impact airbags are standard.   Air bags have become so advanced they can tell whether a potential crash is high impact or low impact and respond accordingly.    In this day, as safety is a top priority, and even selling point for vehicles, the automakers are actively looking for ways to improve their cars.  The federal government is still playing a role in dictating safety requirements, and the latest mandate involves side-impact protection.

A standard enacted late in 2007 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) mandates that all automakers must phase in additional side-impact protection as a standard feature for their cars, trucks and SUVs.  Both NHTSA and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) expect that torso-protecting side-impact airbags as well as head-protecting side curtain airbags will almost certainly be necessary for vehicles to meet the new standard. Also carmakers are required to reinforce the sides of their vehicles through stronger roof rails, rocker panels and B-pillars that absorb more crash energy.

Airbags are making a difference; fatalities in head-on collisions have declined dramatically since the government mandated front airbags as standard equipment in 1991. That means side impacts have increased in relative importance as vulnerability for drivers and passengers.  When NHTSA first proposed a new side-impact crash standard in 2004, much of the industry was not happy. Today, optional side airbags can cost $300 to $700.   While the new rule doesn't explicitly require rear side-airbag protection, many automakers are moving quickly in the direction of making that standard anyway.

More and more vehicles are coming standard with side airbags, and side airbags are getting better too. Mainstreaming a new technology can be costly, but the auto industry is certainly on the right path to accomplish this – and along the way side airbags will save many lives.