In the late 90s car companies advertising in the UK were keen to promote air conditioning in their vehicles as a new standard – beforehand it’d been the preserve of only top-of-the-range vehicles. Now the same could be happening to automatic driver assistance systems.

The £15,000 Nissan Sentra is offering a range of driver aids that, according to one writer, “has all the technology you’d expect on a BMW.”

Techradar’s John Brandon says that this vehicle actually intervenes rather than just beeping at you to warn you of an issue, “and that will be more important as we keep driving and keep feeling distracted”.

“After a solid week of testing, I did notice the chimes but my normal car is not exactly this advanced,” the report reads. “I liked seeing blindspot warnings in a car that costs under $20,000 (that wasn’t common even a few years ago – normally you had to pay for the privilege.) The Sentra is always vigilant, though, and monitors cross-traffic in front of you, rear traffic and obstructions, and lane departures.

“The sensors trigger the chimes but can also check your speed and trajectory. If you are heading right for the brick wall, the Sentra will stop.

“Someday soon, cars will be able to predict behaviour to such a great extent that the vehicle might react far sooner than they do now and mitigate the most common types of accidents. For now, I like how the Sentra has advanced and matches what I recall as the most advanced features on luxury cars from not long ago.”

(Picture – Nissan website)