Disclaimer: Only our team member’s vehicle and pride were injured in the making of this blog post.

Recently, one of our CarLocate team members was in an accident – gasp! We promise to tell you the (humorous) story a little later, but let’s talk about car safety features first.

There are a handful of safety features that people are starting to learn they can’t live without and that car manufacturers are beginning to add as standard options. Some of these features are obvious and popular like having as many airbags as possible, a tire-pressure monitor system, and a backup sensor. Some of the more advanced features gaining popularity include blind spot and lane-departure signals, adaptive cruise control, emergency brake assist, and adaptive headlights. (Read our Top Picks for Safety Technology in New Cars.)

Still, none of these safety features could have prevented our team member from making a very costly mistake one bright and sunny morning a few weeks back.

Since our team member was running late, she tried to save some time and didn’t fasten the buckle on her pointy high-heeled shoes on her way into the office. While driving, she thought, “What better time to buckle my shoes than on an entrance ramp to the interstate?” A quick 3-5 second glance away from the road equaled her car swerving into a guardrail. She was able to quickly and easily correct her steering and thought the damage to her car wasn’t too bad – that was until she had to crawl out the passenger door in the employee parking lot since her driver side door was jammed shut. More than $2,000 in repairs later, she sure wishes she would have opted for the lane-departure safety feature when she bought her car!

Lessons learned here:
1. Don’t tempt yourself with distractions while driving.
2. Consider upgrading certain safety features to help avoid accident costs in the future.
3. Those were expensive high-heeled shoes!

What safety feature is most important to you? Have an embarrassing story to tell? Share with us!