There’s no doubt that avoiding car crashes in total is a great way to cut down on your risk on the road, but it’s not always an option. You may need the help provided by technology inside the car if there’s no way to get out of a possible crash. When that occurs, technology can save your life.

Although plenty of car automation technology being developed today focuses on minimizing the risk of an accident in the first place, new car crash survival technology is designed to minimize the impact if a crash is unavoidable. Many different auto makers have begun to look at ways that people are most likely to sustain severe and life changing injuries in an accident, using this to figure out which technology could be implemented in cars to be triggered upon a specific event. For example, the ear damage associated with the explosion of an airbag can be severe.

Many people don’t realize that they could walk away from a vehicle accident with significant damage to their ears, however, new technology is designed to decrease the risk of permanent hearing loss due to the loud noise of airbag deployment. But that is not the only type of technology that seeks to minimize the impacts of an unavoidable accident. Pre sense side or impulse side systems now inflate side bolster seats immediately before a T-bone or side crash to move the passenger away from the door that is about to be struck.

Audi’s system is part of the overall collision detection package to identify side impact accident immediately before it happens and to move the entire car three inches in less than half a second. This ensures that the impact force of a side accident includes the flour pan and sill beams rather than the soft doors, which can crumple and leave the passenger inside with catastrophic injuries. If you have already been hurt in a serious accident, consult with an attorney immediately.