What safety features should I expect as standard on a new car?
New cars come with more safety technology than ever, from automatic emergency braking to systems that monitor whether you’re paying attention. But which features are required by law, and which should you simply expect to find on a modern car?
Browse the specifications of almost any new car and you’ll encounter a long list of safety-related acronyms.
There’s ‘ABS’ and ‘ESC’, ‘AEB’ and ‘ISA’, ‘TPMS’, lane-keeping assistance, driver monitoring, blind-spot warnings and an assortment of other systems promising to help prevent an accident or protect you if one happens.
Some have been required on new cars for years. Others are increasingly fitted as standard even though they’re not currently required by law in the UK. And the situation is about to change again, with the government confirming plans to make a further package of advanced safety technologies mandatory.
To make things slightly more complicated, the rules currently differ between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
So what safety equipment should you expect when buying a new car today, what does it actually do and which features are worth looking for?
What safety features are required by law on a new car?
There’s no single checklist in UK law saying that every new car must have a particular collection of safety gadgets.
Instead, new cars have to comply with ‘vehicle type-approval requirements’ before they can be registered and sold. These cover a huge range of areas, from brakes and lighting to seatbelts, crash protection and pedestrian safety.
For a passenger car sold in the UK today, long-established requirements mean you can expect features and systems including:
Anti-lock braking system (ABS)
ABS prevents the wheels from locking when you brake heavily.
Without ABS, a locked wheel slides across the road rather than rotating, which significantly reduces the driver’s ability to steer. ABS rapidly controls the braking force at individual wheels to help the tyres maintain grip.
You may feel the brake pedal pulsing when ABS activates during an emergency stop. That’s normal – keep applying firm pressure rather than pumping the pedal yourself.
Electronic stability control (ESC)
ESC – sometimes called electronic stability programme (ESP) – helps the driver regain control if the car begins to skid.
The system uses sensors to compare where you’re steering with what the car is actually doing. If it detects that the vehicle is beginning to lose stability, it can reduce engine power and automatically brake individual wheels to help bring the car back under control.
ESC has been mandatory on new passenger cars for many years and is one of those safety systems you should rarely notice during everyday driving.
Tyre-pressure monitoring system (TPMS)
A tyre-pressure monitoring system warns you if one or more tyres becomes significantly underinflated.
Depending on the vehicle, this may be done using pressure sensors inside the wheels or indirectly by monitoring differences in wheel rotation.
TPMS doesn’t replace regularly checking your tyre pressures. The system is intended to warn you of a problem rather than tell you that your tyres are always correctly inflated.
Seatbelts and ISOFIX child-seat mountings
Seatbelts are obviously not new technology, but modern type-approval requirements cover both the restraints themselves and the points at which they’re attached to the vehicle.
New cars also have standardised ISOFIX mounting points for compatible child seats. These allow the child seat to attach directly to anchorage points built into the vehicle rather than relying solely on the adult seatbelt.
Head restraints
Head restraints are an important part of a car’s occupant-protection system rather than simply something comfortable to rest your head against.
They’re designed to limit the movement of your head relative to your body during a collision, particularly reducing the risk of neck injuries in a rear impact.
Their effectiveness depends on adjustment, so the top of an adjustable restraint should generally be positioned appropriately for the occupant rather than left at its lowest setting.
Crash and pedestrian protection
Some of the most important mandatory safety features aren’t things you’ll find listed prominently in a brochure.
Cars have to meet numerous requirements governing their performance in a collision, including the strength of structures, occupant restraints and protection from various types of impact.
There are also requirements intended to reduce injuries to pedestrians if they’re struck by a vehicle, influencing the design and construction of areas such as the bonnet and front of the car.
Active safety vs passive safety
Active safety systems are intended to help prevent a collision in the first place. ABS, ESC and automatic emergency braking are examples.
Passive safety features are intended to reduce injuries when a collision happens. Seatbelts, airbags, head restraints, crumple zones and the passenger safety cell fall into this category.
What about airbags?
Every mainstream new car today will have multiple airbags. You’ll commonly find front airbags for the driver and front passenger, side airbags protecting the torso and curtain airbags extending along the side windows. Many newer cars also have a centre airbag between the front occupants, designed to reduce the risk of the driver and passenger colliding with each other during a side impact.
It’s misleading to assume that a car advertised with eight airbags must automatically be safer than one with six. How well the passenger compartment withstands an impact, how effectively the seatbelts restrain occupants and how the complete restraint system works together are all more important than the headline number.
Aren’t automatic emergency braking and lane-keeping assistance mandatory?
You may have read that automatic emergency braking, intelligent speed assistance and various other technologies became mandatory on all new cars in 2024.
That applies to the European Union and Northern Ireland, but those requirements didn’t automatically become law in the UK after Brexit. The UK government has now decided to close much of that gap.
In July 2026, the government confirmed that it will introduce 18 additional vehicle safety requirements. These include automatic emergency braking, intelligent speed assistance, emergency lane-keeping, driver monitoring and reversing detection, along with new crash-protection requirements.
However, that doesn’t mean all 18 systems suddenly became mandatory on every new car in Great Britain in July 2026.
New legislation still has to come into force, followed by transition periods. The government’s latest plan gives newly approved vehicle types 12 months from the legislation taking effect, while most complete new vehicles being registered get 24 months. Some requirements have longer implementation periods.
So why do most new cars already have these features?
Because car manufacturers don’t generally design completely different vehicles for the UK and the rest of Europe.
Many models sold here are fundamentally the same cars offered across the EU, where newer safety requirements already apply. Fitting common equipment across several markets is often simpler than producing a special version without it for Britain.
Manufacturers also want their cars to perform well in independent Euro NCAP safety testing.
Automatic emergency braking (AEB)
AEB monitors the road ahead and can automatically apply the brakes if the system believes a collision is imminent and the driver hasn’t responded in time.
Modern systems commonly use cameras, radar or a combination of sensors.
The simplest versions concentrate on other vehicles, while more sophisticated systems can detect pedestrians and cyclists as well. Some can also respond to crossing traffic or hazards when turning at a junction.
AEB isn’t intended to make an accident impossible. Its job may be to avoid a collision altogether or simply reduce the vehicle’s speed enough to make the impact less severe.
Detection capability varies considerably between vehicles, which is one reason independent testing remains useful.
Lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assistance
These sound similar but aren’t quite the same thing.
Lane-departure warning detects when you’re unintentionally drifting across a lane marking and alerts you, typically with a dashboard warning, sound or steering-wheel vibration.
Lane-keeping assistance goes further and can apply steering input to help move the vehicle back into its lane.
An emergency lane-keeping system is intended to intervene where the vehicle is at risk of unintentionally leaving its lane in a potentially dangerous situation.
These shouldn’t be confused with lane centring, which continually provides steering assistance to keep the vehicle around the middle of its lane and is usually paired with adaptive cruise control. None makes the car autonomous. The driver remains responsible for steering and paying attention.
Intelligent speed assistance (ISA)
Intelligent speed assistance determines what it believes the current speed limit to be, usually using a forward-facing camera to read road signs alongside information from the car’s mapping data.
If you exceed that limit, the system provides a warning. Depending on the vehicle, that could involve a visual warning, an audible alert or feedback through the accelerator pedal. ISA doesn’t necessarily mean the car physically prevents you from exceeding the speed limit.
The technology isn’t infallible. Cameras can misread signs, while mapping information may be incorrect or out of date.
Driver drowsiness and attention warning
These systems attempt to identify signs that the driver may be becoming tired or inattentive.
Simpler systems can analyse patterns in steering inputs and driving behaviour. More sophisticated versions use a camera directed at the driver to monitor things such as head position and eye movement.
If the system believes your attention or alertness is deteriorating, it provides a warning and may suggest taking a break.
This shouldn’t be considered a reliable way to determine whether you’re safe to continue driving. If you’re tired, the correct response is to stop somewhere safe and rest rather than waiting for the car to tell you.
Advanced driver distraction warning
Closely related to drowsiness monitoring, distraction-warning technology looks for signs that the driver isn’t watching the road.
Camera-based systems can monitor where you’re looking and provide a warning if your attention is directed elsewhere for too long.
The technology is intended to address distractions such as looking at a mobile phone or spending too long interacting with the car’s touchscreen.
Traffic-sign recognition
A forward-facing camera identifies road signs and displays relevant information to the driver, commonly including the current speed limit.
Traffic-sign recognition often forms part of the car’s intelligent speed assistance system.
It’s useful, but don’t blindly trust it. Temporary limits, obscured signs, signs applying to neighbouring roads and other situations can confuse the system. The driver remains responsible for obeying the actual road signs.
Reversing detection
Virtually every new car now provides some form of assistance when reversing, although the sophistication varies.
Parking sensors use ultrasonic sensors to detect nearby obstacles and warn you as you get closer.
A reversing camera provides a view behind the vehicle on the dashboard display.
The incoming GB requirements include reversing motion awareness technology intended to make drivers aware of people and objects behind the vehicle while reversing. These systems are aids rather than substitutes for checking around the car yourself.
Emergency stop signal
You might already have this without realising it. An emergency stop signal warns following road users when the car is braking particularly hard.
Depending on the vehicle and applicable system, this generally involves the brake lights flashing rapidly under severe braking, with the hazard warning lights potentially activating once the vehicle has stopped.
What other safety features should I look for?
The systems above are increasingly widespread, but manufacturers offer plenty of additional technology that you shouldn’t assume will be fitted to every new car.
Some are well worth looking for when comparing specifications.
Blind-spot monitoring
Blind-spot monitoring uses sensors – usually radar – to detect vehicles travelling alongside or slightly behind your car.
A warning light normally appears in the relevant door mirror when another vehicle enters the monitored area. If you indicate towards it, the system may provide a stronger visual or audible warning.
Some cars can also provide steering assistance if you begin moving towards an occupied lane.
It’s particularly useful on motorways, but doesn’t replace physically checking your mirrors and blind spot before changing lanes.
Rear cross-traffic alert
Rear cross-traffic alert looks sideways as you reverse.
If you’re backing out of a parking space between two large vehicles, for example, the system may detect an approaching car, cyclist or pedestrian before you can see them yourself.
Some systems simply warn the driver, while more sophisticated versions can automatically apply the brakes.
Safe-exit warning
Safe-exit systems use the car’s rear-facing sensors to detect vehicles or cyclists approaching from behind after you’ve parked.
If you or a passenger attempts to open a door into their path, the car provides a warning. Some vehicles can temporarily prevent an electronically operated door from opening.
It’s a particularly useful feature for protecting cyclists in busy urban areas.
Adaptive cruise control
Conventional cruise control maintains a speed selected by the driver.
Adaptive cruise control additionally monitors traffic ahead and automatically slows the car to maintain a chosen distance from the vehicle in front, accelerating again when the road clears.
More sophisticated versions can operate in stop-start traffic.
It’s primarily a driver-assistance and convenience feature rather than a collision-avoidance system, and the driver remains responsible for monitoring the road and intervening when necessary.
360-degree parking camera
A 360-degree or surround-view camera combines images from cameras around the vehicle to create an overhead-style view on the dashboard screen.
It’s mainly a parking aid, but can help the driver spot kerbs, objects, pedestrians and other hazards close to the vehicle that may otherwise be difficult to see.
It’s particularly useful as modern cars have generally become larger while their windows haven’t necessarily become any bigger.
Adaptive or matrix LED headlights
Adaptive headlights automatically alter the illumination according to the driving situation.
More sophisticated matrix LED systems can control different sections of the high beam independently. This allows more of the road to remain brightly illuminated while reducing light directed towards other vehicles.
As with any automated lighting system, however, the driver remains responsible for making sure the correct lights are being used.
The Car Expert’s view
We’d expect any new car today to offer considerably more than the bare legal minimum.
Automatic emergency braking is one feature we’d particularly want as standard, preferably with good pedestrian and cyclist detection. We’d also look for lane-departure/lane-keeping assistance and driver-attention monitoring.
If you regularly drive on motorways, blind-spot monitoring is particularly useful, while rear cross-traffic alert can be invaluable if you frequently park in busy car parks.
Avoid judging safety simply by counting airbags or electronic systems. Look at the car’s independent Euro NCAP performance as well, which factor into the scores we award each car in our Expert Rating index.
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