Auto safety features no longer for the rich

Time was, it took years for the most advanced safety features to migrate from Volvos and Mercedes down to less expensive, or American-made cars. Top-notch airbags and stability control remained only in $80,000 luxury cars or huge SUVs until every other car maker caught up.

Lately, however, lower-priced cars are closer to the cutting edge, and offering advanced safety features like backup cameras and blind spot detectors as options on even their entry level models.

Shopping for these features can make you a bit dizzy. There's a big difference, for instance, between "Traction Control" and "Stability Control." And with fisheye cameras and proximity detectors, a car lot can suddenly start sounding every bit as complicated as a BestBuy store.

Amid the worst auto downturn in decades, and a series of massive safety recalls, the makers of less-expensive cars are adding a series of top-notch safety gadgets to help compete and attract new car buyers.

But it's worth sorting through the safety features because many gadgets automatically help you prevent an accident before it happens. And some features you simply should not buy a car without.

Some you'll see due to coming federal mandates as much as auto maker altruism. So to help you car buyers out there, here's a rundown of safety features to consider.

Traction/Stability Control

This is the one feature car experts say is mandatory. Don't buy a car without it.

Traction control detects if a wheel slips, and then automatically compensates by giving more power to other wheels, helping the car avoid spinning out of control. Electronic Stability Control takes this a step further, and analyzes the shape and weight of the car, and even the terrain or road incline, to control all four brakes better and prevent a spinout or rollover.

ESC can cut the risk of a fatal single-vehicle crash by 49 percent, and cut the risk of a rollover in an SUV by 75 percent, according to research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

"Not long ago, you had to buy a Mercedes to get this," said Bill Visnic, a senior editor at Edmunds.com. "Now it's going to be mandated for every vehicle sold in 2012." Some newer Hyundai models also help prevent rolling backwards when parked on a steep hill, and help improve control when going down a steep hill.

Such systems work so well at avoiding a catastrophe, Visnic said, that nobody should consider buying a new car without traction or stability control, especially considering how much it rains in Florida.

Peek Around

Just as cameras are popping up on every cell phone and MP3 player, they're popping up on relatively inexpensive new cars. Amid the myriad of items on the window sticker of a new Ford Edge, the Blind Spot Information System "BLIS" costs just $395.

Wide-angle cameras around the car link to a dashboard display, and show you everything that's happening around the car. Backup cameras in the rear help avoid the nightmare scenario of hitting a child you didn't know was in the driveway behind you.

Ford's Cross-Traffic Alert feature upgrades this system for when you're backing out of a tight parking spot between two big SUVs and can't see behind you. Radar sensors on the back bumper set off an alarm if a car is coming down the lane that could clock you. Also handy for parallel parking.

Not counting expensive brands, blind spot warnings are already an option on 2010 models of the Buick LaCrosse, Dodge Grand Caravan, Ford Fusion, Mazda 6 and Mercury Milan. Considering how cheap cameras and displays are now, and the awful consequences of an accident, Federal auto regulators want backup cameras standard soon for all cars.

Watch The Kids

Look for more features to come on the market that try to control teen drivers. Ford's new MyKey system uses specific keys for each driver, and can limit things like top speed or stereo volume. (It can even block explicit channels on satellite radio.)

For all-electric car versions, the system will adjust projected range based on that driver's past habits - heavy or light on the accelerator. And for parents, you may want to consider new phone apps or messaging systems that keep closer ties on young drivers.

Along those lines, General Motors will soon start selling an after market version of OnStar that clips on your rearview mirror, so even Hyundai drivers can call for directions or help.

Fewer Fender Benders

Here's something to please everyone stuck in traffic because of a tiny fender bender.

While still in upper-tier brands, some new model cars have forward-looking sensors that detect when a car ahead has slowed suddenly. The system then mathematically calculates if you can't avoid the crash without help and sends up a warning.

Ford and Lincoln have systems that will flash red lights on your dashboard and increase sensitivity on the brakes. Volvo's "City Safety" system will automatically apply the brakes - handy in the scenario when you're distracted with a spilled cup of coffee or a kid in the back seat.

Acura, Mercedes, BMW and other makers have similar systems - even ones that work on the freeway with cruise control or pre-power brakes to cut stopping distances. And it's an option on the 2010 Ford Taurus and the Toyota Prius.

No Sleeping

Mercedes took this a step further, and studied hundreds of sleepy drivers in a lab. Using that data, new car models offer "Attention Assist" that detects the minor steering shifts common in drowsy drivers, and bleeps an alarm if the system suspects you're nodding off.

A number of car makers have started installing "lane drift" sensors in upper-tier cars. Generally, they use forward-looking cameras to track lane markers on the road, and warn the driver if they drift out of their lane, sometimes with a bleep or a small vibration on the steering wheel. Mercedes, Buick, Cadillac, Hyundai, Volvo and others now offer this feature, so look for this soon on lower-priced models.

After the Crash

Once a crash does happen, it's generally up to the airbags to help you survive, and airbags have vastly improved in recent years.

"The least expensive car on my lot now has at least 10 airbags," said Eddie Gomez, a sales executive at the Ferman Chevrolet dealership in Tampa. He points to the $18,000 Chevy Cruze, an entry level vehicle.

Even the smaller SUV Ford Escape has overhead airbags. (Handy in rollover crashes). And Ford models coming later this year will offer airbags right in the back-seat shoulder belts that inflate in a crash to create something of a pillow across the chest, minimizing the chance of a belt breaking ribs or damaging internal organs.

Notably, both Kia and Hyundai now sell models with "Active Head Restraints," that use your own weight in a crash to help push the headrest forward - minimizing the whiplash created by a crash.

Even the budget-minded Kia Forte sedan has curtain airbags that cover the entire length of the car's interior during a crash.

Pure convenience

One handy side effect of all these sensors on cars is they can make nifty features for pure convenience.

Some new Fords coming soon will use wireless beacons in the keys, and detect when the driver is walking up toward the trunk. If the driver has their hands full of bags, they can just wave their foot under the back bumper, and the trunk gate automatically starts rising.