ABCNews Story Reviews Onboard Safety Tech
ABCNews is running a story today by Lisa Stark and Lindsey Ellerson, “New Technology Successful in Reducing Severity of Car Crashes.” Basically it’s a run down of technologies (available and in development) to combat driver distraction for collision and accident avoidance. (The article runs to three pages and is well worth your time to get an overview of the present state of this type of onboard safety system.)
There has certainly been enough on the news here of late about driving while texting to bring driver inattentiveness to the forefront of my thoughts. It’s now illegal in Texas to talk on a cell phone while in a school zone and I am making myself use my bluetooth headset while in the car and studiously ignore texts. I’ve rarely been guilty of texting while moving, but I have been known to do it at lights. I remind myself every time I get behind the wheel that no text message is worth my life or — worse yet — someone else’s.
By the end of the article, however, the authors ask an interesting question, “Will these kinds of technologies actually make drivers pay less attention behind the wheel?” They are essentially exploring the extent to which we’re evolving toward a kind of automotive auto-pilot that may instill a false sense of confidence in the driver that the car itself is taking care of them and paying attention — thus absolving the driver of the need to do so.
Essentially the same thing was said about cruise control when it first became an available option — and I have to admit, I’ve never made extensive use of cruise control on any car I’ve driven where the system was present. I’m one of those people who has to have the radio going to stay awake and I actually like having to stay alert and pay attention. Probably of all the emerging technologies, I’m most intrigued by night vision systems and that’s just a consequence of being in middle-age and wearing bifocals.
Will the cars of tomorrow offer more of a “cockpit” like experience and give the driver autopilot capability? Is that even a good idea? Or is it an inevitable evolution of the driving experience? Good food for thought as well as a nice tech read. Highly recommended article.