2014 Buick Lineup Offers Active Safety Suite

Every 2014 Buick model – Verano, Regal, LaCrosse, Encore and Enclave – will be offered with a suite of available active safety systems that watch the front, side and rear of the vehicle to help prevent crashes.

Car buyers tend to look for a few key items when they begin shopping for their next vehicle. Their choice begins and ultimately ends based on the idea of value, safety, and style. The 2014 Buick lineup slated to hit the markets soon has managed to combine all of these things brilliantly. Moreover, Buick has put a particularly strong emphasis on safety. Every model in this group of new releases will feature the innovative Active Safety Suite. This step forward in safety technology is designed to protect drivers from collisions on all sides of the vehicle rather than merely the front or the rear. The Enclave, Encore, the Regal, LaCrosse, and Verano will all be equipped with the suite, promising Buick a bright future in sales.

A large number of the safety features that will go into the active suite are unique in the industry. For example, Buick is the only manufacturer to install a Forward-Collision Alert. Also among the extraordinary components of the suite are a Blind-Side Zone Warning, Rear Cross-Traffic Alert, and a redesigned Lane-Departure Warning system.

Many of these systems use existing technology that has been proven successful in many other applications in the past that were not necessarily automotive. Cross-Traffic and Blind-Zone warning systems use radar to monitor spots that are typically out of the driver’s path of vision. These systems also provide warnings that are visible and auditory in order to ensure that the attention of the driver is drawn to the relevant danger.

These systems are also integrated in order to provide the greatest amount of protection during a variety of possibly dangerous scenarios that occur while on the road. The Forward Collision and Lane- Departure systems work in conjunction, taking the images from an individual, forward-facing camera and evaluating the oncoming hazards. The system reads the road markings and notes the speed and position of vehicles ahead of the car so that it can provide audible and visual alerts of unexpected lane changes and slowing vehicles.

The visual alerts come in the form of flashing red arrows in the line of sight of the driver. The flashing red arrow indicates the side from which the offending car is approaching. The Blind-Side Zone system uses yellow arrows to alert drivers of possible dangers. The flashing yellow arrows appear on the glass of both side-view mirrors, depending on the position of the danger. Buick is continuing to build on a record of safety that it has slowly been developing over the past five years. While this year’s models are yet to receive official ratings, the 2013 models were a top safety pick for the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety.