Set yourself up for safety success this winter. Make sure the vehicle you’re driving is equipped with the necessary features to keep you safe. Most Toyota cars come standard with the features, but it wouldn’t hurt to double check if yours does before the weather turns south. Some of the features you wouldn’t necessarily consider a must for safe driving until you’re in a situation that calls for such a feature.

Anti-lock brakes are a must during the winter months, but will benefit you year round. An anti-lock brake system will prevent the wheels from locking and skidding during braking, thus keeping your car under control. The ABS system will actually shorten stopping distances and allow steering in even the most abrupt stop.

Traction control is another necessary feature offered on most Toyota cars that will keep you safe this winter. The Anti-lock Brake System mentioned earlier is designed to assist in stopping, whereas, traction control is to assist in acceleration. This system also detects when your wheels begin slipping during an attempted acceleration. It will reduce the engine power or apply the ABS to keep power going to the wheel with the most traction. This feature is beneficial to all vehicle types, but can be most effective for a rear wheel drive car.

Stability control or Electronic Stability System is a system designed to “sense” the car’s direction. It also works in accordance with the anti-lock brake system. Once a slippage is detected, the Electronic Stability System compares the direction in which the driver is steering and applies the ABS to the necessary wheels in order to correct the direction of the vehicle. It is a system that effectively reduces the amount of fishtailing for the vehicle.

Having the feature of a heated windshield or heated wipers and washers is also an excellent feature to combating certain winter weather conditions. The last thing you want to do during questionable driving conditions is have to pull over onto the shoulder to scrape your windshield from snow or ice build-up. This would also put you at risk of having an accident with an out of control vehicle traveling down the road. This feature will keep your wipers from freezing to the glass, keep the front and rear windshield from forming a build-up of ice or snow and allow for warm windshield fluid to aid in deicing your vehicle’s windshield.