Photo: Courtesy of Comedy Traffic School
Before you read the title and leave, we know we’ve done articles like this before. This one is going to be different. Safety is a huge issue in the automotive industry right now. You may just be hearing me rant about how silly technology is, but everyone needs to understand just how good and how bad it can be.
You may not have the newest car, but there are people all over that do. You come into contact with them every day you drive to work. As time progresses, much of the newest technology right now will become your own in a few years. New cars become used cars and you will probably end up buying one eventually.
Despite the technology we have today, I am a firm believer that safety starts with the driver of a vehicle, no matter how advanced the car is. But even I have to admit that the newest cars with the newest safety tech available are pretty impressive.
I have no doubt that all the extra monitors, systems, and lights available on cars today have saved countless lives. There isn’t a way around the facts.
The problem arises when driver allows a vehicle’s safety system to do everything that a conscientious driver should do. The driver allows him or herself to be driven rather than to drive. I know this to be the case for an overwhelming majority of people. Not only have I witnessed it, but I have experienced it myself.
I certainly have to say that I appreciate a safety system in a vehicle that works as it should. Doubtless, each system is designed to work well. Each feature has improved, and most do work incredibly well. You can even see my favorite features by clicking here.
There are safety features that work well, but aren’t very practical, making them unsafe at times. There are manufacturer variations in some systems that are worse than others. Still there are some that work perfectly yet still take a driver by surprise when it’s time for them to do their job.
All of these factors take a system that is designed to be safe and turn it upside down. Here are the 5 most dangerous safety features available on cars today:
Lane Keep Assist
Photo: Courtesy of Clemson University
This system prevents a car from drifting into another lane should the driver fall asleep or not pay attention. As with most other features on this list, it is becoming more common, some manufacturers’ systems work better than others, and it is being improved each year.
Unlike Lane Departure Warning where a light or noise signals drifting into another lane, Lane Keep Assist actually redirects the whole vehicle back into the proper lane of travel. The car’s sensors essentially monitor any lines detected on the road.
This isn’t the most dangerous safety system on this list, but it one of the more annoying ones, especially if you are driving safely. You can disable it on most models if needed. The most dangerous part of the feature is in the surprise factor.
What happens when there is a bit of debris on the side of the road or somebody has pulled over on the side of the highway? It may be easy enough to flip your turn signal and disable the vehicle from correcting, but we all know that doesn’t always happen.
The worst thing about this safety system is the lack of refinement in some cars. I’ve heard and seen the worst of these systems almost throw the car back into the correct lane. They are jerky and unpredictable. A good system doesn’t do that, and thankfully, these systems are improving.
Backup Cameras
Photo: Courtesy of Rear View Camera Reviews
How can a backup camera be dangerous? Again, it is because of the driver rather than the equipment.
Backup cameras can be extremely beneficial. They were one of the first advanced safety features other than seat belts and advanced airbags to start being placed on mainstream cars. They are especially helpful on larger vehicles, and they have recently become a mandatory piece of equipment.
Cameras usually become visible on the infotainment system or instrument cluster when the car is put in reverse. The problem with this is that both the display locations require that the driver look directly in front of them. That’s exactly what everybody does.
Gone are the days when a car was put in reverse and the driver would check their surroundings before backing up. This is the biggest issue that I’ve personally witness on this entire list. This is exactly what most people with a backup camera do, including myself.
I don’t have a backup camera myself, but I drove a car that had one once. I did put the car in reverse and checked my surroundings. However, as the vehicle started moving backwards, I became fixated on the camera.
As I finally thought that I should look up to check where I was, I noticed that the side of the car was just 2 inches from the side of the garage door. Moving back any farther would have resulted in the side mirror hitting the garage, and any sideways deviation would have left both the car and garage damaged.
That is certainly a best case scenario as everything I could have hit would have been stagnant, non-living objects. I’m a very good driver, however, I let the backup camera have my attention for longer than it should have.
I could have done some costly damage to the house and the car, but what would have happened if another object, pet, or even person had moved into a spot the camera hadn’t picked up? To me, that is a scary thought.
360 Degree Cameras
Photo: Courtesy of Web 2 Carz
This falls along the same lines as the backup camera. 360 degree cameras may not be there as much for safety as for convenience, but they still play a key role in the equipment available on a modern vehicle.
The issue remains the fixation on what the car is telling you is or isn’t there. Just like a backup camera isn’t a substitute for checking on both sides of the vehicle before and while backing up, so the 360 degree camera isn’t an excuse to stare at the display to see how close you are to the thing next to you.
Automatic Emergency Braking
Photo: Courtesy of Consumer Reports
This is one is quickly becoming available on cars everywhere. It’s on this list, not because of its danger to the occupants of the vehicle, but rather because it can be startling in certain circumstances.
Sensors on a vehicle equipped with automatic emergency braking can tell when there is another vehicle or pedestrian in front of it. The computers tell the car to stop and applies the brakes automatically. Most of the time its functionality only works below a certain speed, which is usually not that fast.
The problem with this feature is premature braking. The car is programmed to determine how far an object is from being hit. Sometimes, when the vehicle’s sensors are too sensitive or the systems aren’t as refined, the car will stop even though the driver has ample room in which to do it himself.
As a driver, it can be very unnerving and extremely annoying when your car starts to stop by itself, even if you are in complete control of the vehicle. At the very least it could make anybody just a little nervous to drive a car that is consistently stopping when no driver input is given.
My greatest fear with a system like this is the potential consequence of a system failure. I haven’t heard too much of this happening, but I would love to keep it that way.
“Auto-Pilot”
Photo: Courtesy of Tech Republic
This is the feature of the future. Auto-pilot isn’t on very many vehicles right now, but it is starting to make some appearances on some high-end luxury cars, Tesla models, and test cars. Of course, even in mainstream luxury cars, the auto-pilot feature isn’t a full auto-pilot system.
Most of us won’t have to worry about full self-driving cars for at least a little while still. The systems that are out there are a work-in-progress. There are so many factors that go into a program like this, it is going to take years to find a solid auto-pilot system able to be put to work in an actual vehicle.
Even when a full auto-pilot system is developed, tested, and implemented, I don’t believe that it will truly work, no matter how good it is.
The problem is still the human factor. Humans make mistakes. Computers can be programmed to not make mistakes, given that there are no system malfunctions or other issues. Mixing human interaction with computer calculations still leaves room for error.
The only way, I believe, that a fully functioning auto-pilot system will work as it “should”, is if there were a universal switch to fully computer driven vehicles. Otherwise, there will always be human interaction with vehicles, leaving room for error.
I also don’t believe this will happen. People will continue improving computer-driven vehicles, but it would be almost impossible to make a global switch to self-driving vehicles.
I don’t believe that technology is bad. I do believe that many people take it for granted, and as a result, become complacent and get hurt.
As good as cars can be, as safe as they are, and as safe as they will become, there will always be some kind of risk by driving a one and a half ton machine down the road at 70 miles per hour.
The key is to be safe and conscientious whenever anybody gets behind the wheel. Safety features are there to keep you safe, but they need to be used with your own senses, not as a substitution for them.
