Men take pride in knowing a lot about their vehicles. When talkin’ shop, dudes love to casually mention torque, horsepower, number of “V”s, etc. However, advanced technology is making it harder for guys to boast about all the things in their cars — mostly because they aren’t exactly sure what this stuff is or what it does.
MyCarDoesWhat.org — a collaboration of the National Safety Council and University of Iowa — can help folks keep up with the ever-increasing sophistication of modern automobiles. The site makes it easy to navigate dozens of safety features, including “Anti-Lock Braking System,” “Blind Spot Monitoring,” and “Curve Speed Warning.” Clicking each feature will lead you to a simple description of what it does and why it’s important.
Of course, many of the features are pretty straightforward; for example, you probably know what a back-up camera is, and the tire pressure monitoring system is pretty clear. But there are a few other items that you might not know about; “health and workload monitoring,” for example. What the heck does that do? Well, here’s the answer, according to MyCarDoesWhat.org: “This developing feature is intended to monitor your vitals while driving, informing you if you’re overly stressed or ill. This feature may alter car functions, such as silencing the radio, during a health emergency.” So there you have it.
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The site can also come in handy while you’re shopping for a new car. As the auto sales representative lists safety features, you can just whip out your smartphone and find out what they mean. It’s also nice to know what your car can and cannot do when faced with dangerous situations.
This site is just the beginning of a larger education campaign, which is set to launch this fall. Stay tuned — but also, keep your eyes on the road.
