There is a sense of pride in a parent when his or her child passes a road test. You feel like your child has made a great stride toward adulthood while you wipe away the tears thinking, where does the time go? There is also a sense of worry that every loving parent has, knowing how dangerous the world can be and concerned that your child will be too carefree, especially out on the open roads. This is where the 2021 Chevy Equinox comes in to give you some real peace of mind.
Not only is the Equinox affordable with an MSRP of $23,800, but it is also dependable and safe. That is because Chevy has made safety standard on the 2021 Equinox with a whole host of great active safety features. From helpful reminders to features that will move or stop your car for you, there is plenty of upgraded technology to give you peace of mind when your child is behind the wheel.
Standard Teen Driver Technology
As a parent, I know how nerve-wracking it can be when my son takes the family car for a drive so he can go hang out with his friends. You wonder if he’s driving recklessly or if he is obeying all the traffic lights and road signs? Is he using the defensive driving skills he learned in Driver’s Ed or getting distracted by his music on the car stereo? Chevy has addressed these concerns with its ingenious Teen Driver technology, standard on all 2021 Chevy Equinox models.
Teen Driver is like having a robot chaperone in the car with your youngster. The Teen Driver technology makes it impossible for your child to turn off any safety features on your Equinox. It also has Buckle to Drive, which is a feature that will remind occupants to fasten seat belts, not allowing the car to go into gear until this is done. Teen Driver also lets you set a limit on the volume on the Chevy Infotainment 3 system in the Equinox, as well as a speed alert. All of these will provide helpful reminders to your young driver to heed local speed limits and pay better attention while driving.
Best of all, the Teen Driver system will give you an in-vehicle report card showing you how your child performed while driving so you can work with them on problem areas that could have lead to a collision. Knowing that the 2021 Equinox has Teen Driver technology gives me peace of mind as a parent. With it, I know that my child is learning good driving habits. However, Chevy offers plenty of other safety features that will also help you relax when your teen leaves the driveway.
Forward Collision Alert & Automatic Emergency Braking
One of the most common accidents involves forward collisions. This is often caused by following too close to the car in front of you. You haven’t given yourself enough braking distance, and then the other car comes to a sudden stop. You slam on the brakes, but you don’t have enough distance, and before you know it, you are in the other driver’s trunk.
Chevrolet has addressed this by making Forward Collision Alert & Automatic Emergency Braking standard on all 2021 Chevy Equinox SUVs. First, the system will alert you that you aren’t giving yourself enough braking distance by sending out an audible sound alert. Next, if the system begins to detect that the other car is braking, it will begin to apply emergency braking so that you can either avoid or minimize a collision with the car in front of you.
The standard Following Distance Indicator will work with the Forward Collision Alert & Automatic Emergency Braking by displaying the gap time between your Chevy Equinox and the car that you are following. It will show the seconds it will take for you to come to a full stop and avoid colliding with the other car. In this way, you can avoid tailgating and reduce the chance of an accident.
Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning
Sometimes we get distracted when we are driving, either by someone else in the car, changing a channel on our car stereo, or from an incoming call on our Infotainment 3 system. We also might get drowsy, whether driving late at night or during the afternoon doldrums. As a result, it is common to sometimes drift out of our lane on the highway, especially in heavy traffic. This momentary lapse can have catastrophic consequences. Thankfully, Chevy has made this less likely by making Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning standard on the 2021 Equinox.
This standard safety feature will give you an audible warning if it detects you are drifting out of your line. It will even give a slight nudge on your steering wheel in an effort to keep you in the lane. However, if you are signaling for the turn, then the system will know that you are intentionally changing lanes and not interfere with your intended move. In this way, Chevy helps you keep your 2021 Equinox on the straight and narrow.
Front Pedestrian Braking
We’ve all been there before. You’re driving down the street, and suddenly, someone starts crossing the road without checking for traffic. Fortunately, with the standard Front Pedestrian Braking system, your 2021 Chevy Equinox will help you come to a stop. This feature will detect a pedestrian moving out in front of your Equinox. As soon as that happens, it will send out an audible alert and then either assist your hard braking or even automatically begin emergency braking on its own. In this way, this feature will help you either avoid hitting a pedestrian or reduce the severity of any such impact.
Standard Intellibeam Auto High Beam Assist and Rear Vision Camera
Like almost all new cars, the 2021 Chevy Equinox has a standard rear vision camera. This will make it easier to you to drive in reverse, especially in a crowded shopping mall parking lot. This will help you avoid colliding with objects, other vehicles, and pedestrians when backing up.
The 2021 Chevy Equinox also features Intellibeam auto high beam assist. These high beam headlights are unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before. We all know how tough it can be driving late at night down a country road with few, if any, street lamps and not many reflectors. You need to use your high beams to navigate safely. However, every once in a while, you come across an oncoming car and have to turn your high beams down to prevent temporarily blinding the other driver.
Similarly, you may catch up to an oncoming car, and the last thing the other driver wants or needs is for you to flood their interior with your high beam lights. Intellibeam will automatically turn off when it detects another vehicle. It will also automatically turn on when it detects low lights. This will allow you to focus more on driving in the low-lit area without having to be distracted by constantly turning your high beams on and off.
Other Available Safety Features
Chevy also offers a number of excellent active safety features on the 2021 Chevy Equinox. These include Adaptive Cruise Control that detects traffic and adjusts speed automatically to avoid a collision. Available Rear Cross Traffic Alert that detects vehicles behind you when you put your Equinox in reverse. Rear Park Assist helps you park, especially in tight spaces. Available Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert will provide assistance when changing lanes to avoid colliding with cars riding in your Equinox’s blind spot. Finally, High Definition Surround Vision improves on the standard Rear Vision Camera by providing additional camera angles that cover the Equinox’s front and side blind zones. Each of these will make your 2021 Chevy Equinox even safer, if that is even possible.
Chevy’s Committed to Safety
Chevy shows its commitment to the safety of its owners and their passengers by filling the 2021 Equinox with tons of standard active safety features. Most other automakers make these features available as extra options, often on more expensive trim levels, while Chevy has made them standard on every 2021 Equinox. As a parent of a teen driver, that commitment to safety means a great deal to me. Chevy’s commitment to safety really shows that they care about their customers, and that cannot be more prevalent than in the 2021 Equinox.
