Chicago Auto Show features safety on family day

CHICAGO (WLS) -- It's day three of the Chicago Auto Show and it's been packing some big crowds. Tuesday is family day at the show.

Family day at the auto show has something for everyone, from the F-150 Lil' Truckers and Mustang pinball to the performance simulator and the Hyundai racing challenge. It's also a great time to check out the new technology, particularly on the safety front.

"People are driving crazy these days and safety is the most important thing there is," says Tina Nevins, who visited the show today.

At Subaru, eyesight technology is available on five models. It uses two cameras mounted to the rear view mirror, monitoring traffic, allowing the car to react to potential dangers, such as automatic braking, collision and lane departure warning.

Volvo has an exhibit that really illustrates the pedestrian detection feature. There's a camera behind the rear view mirror, the monitor shows what the camera sees, not what the drive would see, but what the camera sees, and if it detects that a person is too close to this car, it will automatically slow it down to prevent a crash.

"It's actually using very fast military grade processing to determine what everything is, what's stationary, what's moving, what's a car, are you closing too quickly," says Joe Wiesenfelder, executive editor at Cars.com.

Even airbags are improving. At Ford, several models offer inflatable shoulder belts to help prevent injuries in a crash.

The other tech story is safely incorporating your phone with your car. The Hyundai Sonata will offer Android Auto and Apple CarPlay; both connect through the car's USB port.

"It's very slick," said Auto Show visitor Richard Burnson. "It's nice how it synchs up right away with the phone and you're able to reduce a lot of the distractions while driving, everything is voice activated, you can launch into Pandora."

The question is, in a year or two, will your new phone work with your old car?

If you're going to the auto show this year be sure to open the ABC7 Chicago News app on your iPhone after you arrive at McCormick Place. We'll be sending out special alerts and messages that will only be visible to folks attending the auto show. If you have an iPhone and don't have our FREE app, you can get it here.