In today’s safety-conscious market place, every new car launch seems to bring with it a new development in safety technology.

To help fleet managers understand the latest safety advances, Masterlease has developed a simple jargon buster.

SIPS (Side Impact Protection System)

A side impact protection system is within the structure of the car’s body.

It will minimise the risk of injury to passengers in a collision by distributing the force down the length of the car, thereby reducing the impact on the passengers.

IC (Inflatable Curtain)

ICs inflate in a side-impact collision to protect the heads of all passengers.

Active Head Restraints (AHR)

Active Head Restraints are designed to move the head of the seat’s occupant closer to the head restraint in the event of an accident, thus reducing the “whiplash” effect.

This type of system came to prominence in SAAB models, but has since been adopted by many manufacturers.

ABS (Anti-lock Brakes) with EBD (Electronic Brake Distribution)

This is designed to stops cars from skidding if the driver has to brake hard.

The ABS prevents the wheels from locking and the EBD ensures that the brake forces are distributed correctly to maximise braking efficiency.

DSTC (Dynamic Stability and Traction Control)

DSTC helps the car to stay stable in slippery conditions.

If your car skids, the DSTC will cut the engine’s power or brake individual wheels to reduce skidding and maintain control.

On certain car models you can set DSTC to provide extra traction in snowy conditions.

RSC (Roll Stability Control)

The RSC will either brake or cut the power if you need to do a harsh manoeuvre that could put your car at risk of tipping over, allowing the car to regain its balance.

(ACC) Adaptive Cruise Control

This is a development of traditional cruise control with radar that measures the distance to the vehicle in front.

If the vehicle in front brakes, the ACC equipped vehicle will apply the brakes to maintain the set distance.

This has been available in luxury vehicles for some time but the technology has recently been introduced as an option into Ford’s S-Max range – not to be confused with automatic climate control.

Lane Departure Warning system

This is a device that will detect unintentional lane drift, for example if the driver falls asleep.

The sensors detect lane markings and if the vehicle drifts without an indicator being deployed, a signal will be given to alert the driver.

ESP or ESC (Electronic Stability Programme or Control)

Using a series of sensors, the car’s on-road behaviour is monitored. If the system detects that the vehicle is behaving unusually (i.e. sliding), the system will reduce engine power and brake the appropriate wheels.

Adaptive Lighting

While this is not a new idea it has been developed, modernised and adopted in most vehicle sectors.

Put simply, the system swivels the headlights in the direction of travel, thus illuminating the sections of bend that would otherwise remain dark.

Source: Masterlease