From lane assist to blind spot monitoring, the top safety features to have in your car in 2025

Hindustan Times

21-06-2025

The years go on, cars continue to evolve at a breakneck pace but India's road fatality statistics remain as woeful as ever. With the great Indian monsoon having finally kicked in, it's time to look at all the key features your car should have in order to ensure a safe, incident-free journey. While features like ABS (Anti-lock braking system), EBD (electronic brakeforce distribution) and front airbags are mandatory, and while features like additional side curtain and rear passenger airbags along with seat belt reminders are now a standard fitment across most models, there are a few additional safety features which can make your daily drive much safer. While features like ABS, EBD and front airbags are mandatory, there are a few additional safety features which can make your daily drive much safer.(Representative image)
AEB detects potential collisions with vehicles, pedestrians, or cyclists and applies the brakes if the driver doesn't respond in time. Already mandatory in 40 countries,AEB is still a more premium offering in India. While some drivers see it as an over-reactive hindrance, there are many benefits to having your car bring the car to a complete halt before you can. Should you find yourself on a particularly crowded road, ensure that you turn it off. Also, ensure that it isn't automatically turned-on everytime you switch on the car. Here, ADAS plays a major role, with benefits outweighing possible risks.
Lane Assist is a key driver assistance technology that uses a combination of cameras and sensors to monitor the vehicle's position within its lane. When the system detects that the car is veering too close to the lane markings—often a sign of driver distraction or drowsiness—it issues visual, audible, or tactile alerts to prompt corrective action.
More advanced versions take it a step further. If the car begins to drift without the use of a turn signal, the system can gently nudge the steering wheel to guide the vehicle back into the center of the lane. While not a substitute for hands-on driving, Lane Assist offers an important layer of protection on highways and long-distance trips, where lane discipline is critical to avoiding sideswipe collisions and road departures. Blind Spot Monitoring
Using sensors to monitor the vehicle's flanks, BSM alerts drivers when another vehicle is in their blind spot—a crucial advantage during lane changes on crowded highways. A Adaptive Cruise Control and Traffic Jam Assist
Adaptive cruise control enhances traditional cruise control by automatically adjusting the vehicle's speed to maintain a safe distance from the car ahead. It uses radar or camera systems to monitor traffic conditions and responds in real time to changes, ensuring smoother and safer driving. 360-degree camera
Indian roads are notorious for offering sensory overload. Add to that narrow parking spaces and busy intersections, it's imperative that your car comes with a proper 360-degree camera because proximity sensors or a rear parking camera alone simply won't do. Especially if you intend to keep your bumpers and fenders scratch free. Emergency call and remote assistance
Most modern cars are now equipped with eCall systems that automatically contact emergency services in the event of a crash, transmitting location and vehicle data. Some brands go a step further, offering remote diagnostics and live assistance to help guide the driver in emergencies—even from thousands of kilometres away. For instance, the MG Hector is an early adopter offering its proprietary i-Smart technology with an on-board e-call feature. Other brands like Kia and Lexus also offer mobile apps with remote calling and SOS capabilities. Structural Integrity
With both Global NCAP and Bharat NCAP now assessing cars for crashworthiness, the consumer has far more insight into the structural integrity of their potential purchase based on the score provided by the NCAP test. Following poor crash safety results, many manufacturers have opted for greater use of high-tensile steel in the chassis of their cars. Cars like the Hyundai Verna, having previously faltered on that front, have opted to highlight additional high-tensile steel usage in vehicular construction. Vehicle-to-vehicle communication
Among the many innovations reshaping the automotive world in 2025, one stands out not for what it adds under the hood, but for the conversations it enables on the road. It's called Vehicle-to-Everything communication—V2X, in industry shorthand—and it marks a turning point in how cars perceive the world around them. Of course, this is a fairly novel feature and yet to be found as a standard fitment, the day isn't too far.
At its core, V2X allows vehicles to communicate not just with one another, but with the entire surrounding ecosystem: traffic signals, road signs, emergency responders, even cyclists and pedestrians. This isn't about a better sensor or a more powerful camera—it's about giving cars access to the kind of real-time, anticipatory information that only connectivity can offer.