When cars were new and novel, safety wasn’t even an afterthought. Thankfully, this is something people sought to change. But like any other advancement, it took time, trial and error. As cars improved their safety features, roads remained quite hazardous. Let’s drive back in time to recall significant safety improvements many take for granted.

Bumps

Speed bumps aren’t the most lovable parts of the road. Yet, we slow down for them. As any driver knows, some people love speeding and view limits as only suggestions. Unless they exist in conjunction with law enforcement, those limits don’t always have the biggest possible impact. But speed bumps make drivers change for a variety of reasons. Safety sure, but also worry about the car itself. Dynamic speed bumps differ slightly from the traditional ones because they activate only for speeders. They let law-abiding drivers continue to cruise on undisturbed.

Lights

Everyone is familiar with traffic lights – red, yellow and green. But traffic lights are getting smarter. Seriously. Adaptive technology change depending on traffic and encourages patience in drivers.

Signs

In the early days of the automobile age traffic signs were nowhere to be found. This left many intersections in a state of peril. Thankfully, signs were added to pretty much every road in America, potentially preventing a large number of auto disasters.

Guardrails

Without guardrails, some of our most famous and scenic drives would wisely be avoided. Cliffside driving at night without much keeping you from the rocky shore below isn’t much of an advertisement. Luckily, guardrails have gotten stronger and have been added to more spots, even those that may be secluded.

Is there a road safety recommendation you have? If you see the future going in a certain direction, tell us what it is on our Facebook or Twitter pages. We can’t wait to hear from you!