Car safety features that saved lives... and those that didn't!

Probably not too much.

Once considered the latest technology, seat belts, airbags and windshield wipers are standard issue on cars today. Obviously, car safety has come a long way. The infographic below from Sun Leisure shows us just how far. Learn where the patents for some of our now-standard car safety features originated. See who was behind them and what impact they’ve had.

There’s also information on recent patents. How about human flypaper to stop pedestrians being flung over the car? Or a car that pre-crumples before it hits something to reduce the impact? Then, there’s the patents that never made it from the concept page to actual production.

With driverless cars on the horizon, the mind boggles at the amount of safety equipment that will be employed to keep us and others from harm. It’s an exciting time, but these autonomous cars will be unrecognizable to those driven at the beginning of last century.

In the meantime, check out just how far we’ve come in a relatively short amount of time.