Which Driver-Assistance Features Are Worth Having on South African Roads

Open the brochure of almost any new car in the Car4Less showroom and you will find a list of assistance systems that reads like an alphabet: AEB, ACC, LKA, BSM, RCTA. A few years ago these were luxury-car features. Now they appear on mainstream hatchbacks and bakkies, sometimes standard, sometimes bundled into a higher trim level. That raises a practical question for the buyer: which of them are worth paying for, and which will be switched off in the first week?

The answer depends on where you drive. South Africa's roads are a particular mix of high-speed highways, poorly marked rural routes, dense urban traffic, minibus taxis and large numbers of pedestrians. Some systems are made for exactly that environment. Others were designed around European road markings and behave oddly here.

Worth having: autonomous emergency braking

If a car has only one assistance system, this is the one to want. Autonomous emergency braking uses a camera, radar or both to detect a vehicle, pedestrian or cyclist in the car's path, warns the driver, and applies the brakes if there is no response. AEB is widely regarded as one of the most effective crash-avoidance systems available, particularly for the low-speed rear-end collisions that clog up city traffic.

Its limits are worth knowing. It works best below highway speeds, it can be blinded by heavy rain, low sun or a dirty windscreen, and it cannot overcome physics. It is a safety net under an attentive driver, not a replacement for one.

Worth having: blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert

Blind-spot monitoring uses rear-facing sensors to light a warning in the mirror when a vehicle sits alongside, and it comes into its own on multi-lane highways where lane changes are constant and not everyone signals. Rear cross-traffic alert uses the same sensors to warn of vehicles approaching from the side as you reverse out of a parking bay, which is a small feature that prevents a very common, very expensive type of accident in shopping-centre car parks.

Useful on long trips: adaptive cruise control

Standard cruise control holds a speed. Adaptive cruise control also holds a gap to the vehicle ahead, slowing and accelerating as traffic changes, and the better systems will bring the car to a stop and pull away again in congestion. On the long inter-city drives that define South African motoring it reduces fatigue noticeably, and fatigue is a major factor in highway crashes. It is less useful in town, and it needs the driver to stay alert for vehicles cutting in and for the moments when it releases control.

• Reduces fatigue on long, steady highway drives
• Needs a clean radar sensor, usually behind the front badge
• Will not react to stationary hazards at high speed in every system
• Choose a version with stop-and-go if you commute in traffic

Mixed results here: lane-keeping assistance

Lane-keeping systems read the painted lines and nudge the steering, or warn, when the car drifts without indicating. On a well-marked national highway they work well and catch the drowsy drift that causes single-vehicle crashes. On a rural road with faded, missing or freshly repainted markings, or through roadworks, they can tug at the wheel unpredictably, which is why many South African drivers turn them down or off. If you drive mostly on highways, keep it; if you drive mostly on regional roads, treat it as a nice-to-have and make sure it can be adjusted.

How to weigh them when choosing a car

Prioritise autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection first, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert second, and adaptive cruise control third if you cover long distances. Check whether the features are standard on the variant you are pricing or reserved for a higher trim, because manufacturers often step them up the range. Then take a test drive that includes a highway stretch and a poorly marked road, and see how intrusive the systems feel to you.

Every car in the Car4Less showroom lists its assistance equipment by variant, and each one is available brand new below the manufacturer's retail price through the national franchise dealer network. The systems that suit your roads are worth having; the price of the car should not decide it for you.

• Browse new cars by specification →
• Vehicle insurance guide →