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We are blessed in this world with a diversity of innovative car tech that has changed the world. That’s not an exaggeration, new car technologies have had a profound impact on the world as we know it, reducing the number of car accidents substantially.
Today, we will go through some of the key technologies that have helped with this, but we will also discuss the main underlying risk factor for car accidents: the driver. No matter how impressive technology gets, we will always have to contend with drivers and the risks they pose. Let’s take a look at how car tech has made the roads safer, and why drivers are still the main culprits.
Car safety tech eliminates human error
When you look at some of the big tech innovations in cars, you notice they have one thing in common. Yes, the tech we’re looking at is designed to improve safety, but that’s not the thing we’re talking about. Instead, we’re talking about the aim to eliminate human error. In simpler terms, technology has been designed to tackle issues caused by humans. Mostly, this relates to the incapabilities of humans.
To explain, look at a technology like auto emergency braking (AEB). It’s commonplace in modern vehicles, and it is designed to automatically detect an object in front of your car, braking without your input. The whole purpose of this is to allow for moments where human reaction times are simply not fast enough, causing a collision. By using sensors and automated technology, your car can instinctively brake for you, stopping a crash.
Speaking of sensors, they are at the heart of a lot of other cool car safety tech. Rear Cross-Traffic Alert systems and Lane Departure Warning systems both rely on sensors to combat human error. Here, they handle an issue that all humans will have when driving; a blind spot. It is impossible for you to see everything in your car, meaning accidents happen when you reverse out of a parking spot or go to switch lanes. You miss a car in the blind spot, and a collision happens. With both of these systems, sensors detect any cars around you, sounding an alert if they are nearby. Thus, you can put the brakes on and avoid crashing with oncoming traffic.
This is further enhanced with video cameras that provide you with a view of what’s behind you. This is mainly used when parking or reversing out of a parking space, but it lets you see if cars are nearby in your blind spot. Talk to trusted car accident lawyers and they’ll tell you that a lot of accidents happen at low speeds in situations like this. You go to slowly pull out, but your lack of visibility means you don’t see the oncoming car. To make matters worse, assigning fault in situations like this is really challenging! This type of car safety tech means the chances of these accidents will significantly reduce.
Auto-steering is another technology that helps to prevent auto accidents. Here, your car judges when you need to swerve out of the way and does it for you. It can work alongside your AEB system, with the car braking and then swerving away from a collision. Often, it kicks in when you swerve, giving you extra power to steer away from danger and avoid a crash. Again, it combats human error by accounting for your lack of ability to react fast enough to swerve fully.
It’s impossible to tackle all human errors
While car safety can handle a lot of human errors when you drive, it is simply impossible to tackle them all. For instance, there is no technology that can stop you from falling asleep at the wheel. Currently, no tech exists that can prevent a drunk driver from getting in their car and putting others at risk. Stopping people from using their phones or eating or putting makeup on while driving is also impossible.
Plus, you can’t do anything about drivers that are just reckless. No matter how kitted out a car is with safety technology, if the driver is reckless they will cause accidents. Likewise, your car may have the best safety tech around, but a reckless driver ramming into your trunk will still cause an accident.
In conclusion, we should be grateful for the car tech that has helped to reduce auto accidents already. However, the roads will never truly be safe unless people learn to drive responsibly. Hopefully, we will see more innovative technology that could prevent some of the problems listed above. For instance, an alcohol detector that locks the car if it detects too much alcohol in the air. Who knows what the future holds!