Family-First: 10 Must-Have Safety Features to Look for in a Used GMC Acadia

Searching for a dependable, family-friendly SUV packed with premium features but without the premium price? Shopping for a GMC Acadia for sale in Dallas is a smart way to enjoy GMC’s sophisticated styling, advanced technologies, and premium comforts at a far more budget-friendly price. But the Acadia’s value goes far beyond its luxury and technology, shining where it matters most—safety.

The Acadia is built with families in mind. GMC equips the SUV with a wide array of active and passive safety features that promote peace of mind whenever you get behind the wheel. From essential components like airbags and stability control to intelligent driver-assist technologies, the Acadia is engineered to keep you more aware, prepared, and protected. Many of these cutting-edge features fall under the GMC Pro Safety Plus suite, making the Acadia even more appealing on the used lot.

Here’s a closer look at these vital safety features and their impact on helping you make the best purchase for your family’s future on the road. Let’s start with the basics—visibility.

#1 – Better Visibility: Rear Vision Camera or Surround Vision

Navigating the Acadia out of your driveway or a congested parking lot is much easier with the SUV’s standard Rear Vision Camera, which engages on the center touchscreen when the Acadia is in reverse.

While the camera is effective, 2024 and newer Acadia models introduce a significant upgrade with the HD Rear Vision Camera. The high-definition setup offers exceptional visibility with up to nine available camera views—Front Standard View, Rear Standard View, Front Overhead View, Rear Overhead View, Side Forward View, Side Rearward View, Hitch View, Top Down View, Rear Camera View.

#2 – Tailgating: Following Distance Indicator

Navigating the Dallas landscape isn’t for the faint of heart, with traffic congested and drivers always in a hurry. It’s easy to get caught in the flow of traffic, following too closely and setting yourself up for a fender bender. GMC mitigates this risk with the Acadia’s Following Distance Indicator, a GMC Pro Safety Plus Suite feature.

Rather than serving as a copilot that cringes, gasps, or screams anytime you’re following too close, the Acadia’s Following Distance Indicator is thankfully more subtle. The Acadia’s digital dashboard displays the gap between your SUV and the vehicle ahead in seconds to help you determine if you’re tailgating and need to add more space between your SUV and traffic ahead.

#3 – See What’s Ahead: Forward Collision Alert and Front Pedestrian Braking

What happens if you ignore the Acadia’s Following Distance Indicator? You’ll likely engage the SUV’s Forward Collision Alert feature. This technology warns you of potential front-end collisions. For example, if the car ahead of you is turning and you’re approaching too quickly, the alert provides audible and visual cues to reduce the Acadia’s speed.

While the Forward Collision Alert works with vehicles, the Acadia’s Front Pedestrian Braking detects people crossing in front of your SUV. The technology actively looks for pedestrians when the Acadia travels below 50 mph during the day. When it senses a potential collision, it provides audible alerts, can enhance your braking, or provide hard emergency braking if you fail to react.

#4 – See What’s Behind You: Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Braking

The Acadia’s GMC Pro Safety Plus suite includes rear monitoring that can save your SUV from a costly collision as you navigate busy areas. Rear Cross Traffic Alert is a standard feature that monitors the area behind the SUV when you’re in reverse, alerting you to traffic approaching from the left or right. The 2024 Acadia features an updated version of this tool, known as Rear Cross Traffic Braking. Instead of warning you about passing traffic, the tool can apply hard emergency braking to help prevent a collision.

#5 – Parking Made Easy: Front and Rear Park Assist

Did you know parking the Acadia in the heart of downtown Dallas doesn’t have to be stressful? GMC guarantees as much by adding Front and Rear Park Assist to the GMC Pro Safety Plus suite. Standard on 2022 and newer Acadia models, the features improve your parking experience by alerting you to objects in front of and behind the SUV. Whether you’re parallel parking downtown, backing out of a grocery store parking lot, or avoiding your kid’s bicycle as you pull into your garage, these tools are a lifesaver.

#6 – Monitor Blind-Spots: Lane Change Alert With Side Blind Zone Alert

Keeping your family safe on the road requires exceptional situational awareness, but blind spots can make that difficult. Technologies like Acadia’s Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert can help.

This feature constantly monitors the Acadia’s surroundings, watching traffic in neighboring lanes as you focus on the road ahead. You’ll know when a car approaches your blind spot because the system will put a visual alert on the Acadia’s side mirror. This feature makes changing lanes safer because you can quickly check your mirrors for the alert.

#7 – Stay in Your Lane: Lane Keep Assist With Lane Departure Warning

It’s easy to lose your focus on the road, whether you’ve been driving for hours or you’re distracted by your kids in the backseat. The Acadia’s many driver-assist features heighten your situational awareness, with one tool dedicated to keeping your Acadia safely in its lane. Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning actively monitors the Acadia’s position in its lane. If it senses the Acadia is unintentionally drifting outside its lane, the feature gently turns the steering wheel to safely reposition the SUV in the center.

#8 – Stopping Power: Automatic Emergency Braking

The Acadia’s Forward Collision Alert tool actively monitors for traffic ahead, alerting you to potential collisions. But what happens if a collision is imminent? That’s where the Acadia’s Automatic Emergency Braking feature plays a pivotal role.

Automatic Emergency Braking works when your Acadia travels below 50 mph. The technology utilizes the Acadia’s camera system to monitor what’s ahead of the SUV. If it senses a potential collision, it provides an audible alert and enhances your hard braking as you hit the brakes. Alternatively, if you fail to respond, the system can automatically engage the brakes, providing hard emergency braking to prevent or reduce the severity of a collision.

#9 – Confidence for New Drivers: Teen Driver

Do you have a young driver in the family? The Acadia’s family-friendly appeal skyrockets with its Teen Driver technology. The exclusive system is designed with parents and young drivers in mind, showcasing another facet of GMC’s ingenuity and keen awareness of families’ needs.

As a parent, you can program one of the Acadia’s key fobs to work with the Teen Driver feature.

The process is straightforward using the Acadia’s center display, where you can set parameters for your teen. For example, you can activate the Rear Seat Reminder and Buckle to Drive feature, which prevents your teen from shifting the Acadia out of park until they buckle their seatbelt. Then, once your teen returns home, Teen Driver provides performance insights, creating coachable moments that promote safe driving habits.

#10 – Adaptive Cruise Control

How much time do you spend cruising at highway speeds? Whether you use one of the busy interstates to get into the metro or plan your next family vacation out of town, the Acadia can make every experience more enjoyable and relaxing. GMC guarantees as much with intuitive features like Adaptive Cruise Control.

Standard cruise control is helpful but requires frequent input, forcing you to apply the brakes to turn the feature off or reduce your speed. The Acadia’s Adaptive Cruise Control streamlines the process by monitoring traffic and adjusting the Acadia’s speed as needed. With the system managing the demands of maintaining a steady speed in traffic, you can pay more attention to the road and your surroundings as you keep the Acadia safely centered in its lane.