Buy something, tear it out of its packaging, and start using it.
For the most part, that’s how countless people treat things. Phones, computers, tools, household appliances; they all just get unpacked and pressed into action.
It’s also how most treat their cars. Buy, tax, insure, fuel, forget it. At least, that is, until a warning light pops up on the dash or a long-underinflated tyre finally lets go.
Herein lies the problem: people often don’t understand or appreciate how their car works – or what it is capable of.
And yet, despite or perhaps in part because of this, legislation and advances elsewhere are prompting manufacturers to add increasingly complex driver assistance and safety features to their cars.
These systems are unquestionably beneficial, on the grand scheme, and car companies cannot be faulted for wanting to improve the safety and convenience of their cars.
However, how many drivers will seek out information on how to correctly interpret and use improved or all-new advanced driver assistance systems? Few, I suspect.
Countless owners won’t even take a moment to read the most basic of information in their car’s manual, let alone research or ask about features such as adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assistance and autonomous emergency braking.
Instead, these systems might simply be ignored or overlooked – or experimented with until unobtrusive operation is obtained. But, in any instance, this introduces an element of risk; one outweighed by the benefits of the technologies, perhaps, but risk nonetheless.
An unfamiliar notification, an abrupt response from the vehicle, fiddling with a menu to disable a persistent warning or action, misplaced trust in the vehicle’s capabilities; all could lead to trouble.
There is evidently growing concern about such potential dangers, as even road safety organisations have started asking questions about the hazards posed by inadequate understanding of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
The motorsport and safety organisation Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), for example, published a report in December 2020 that explored the realities of new driver aids and safety systems.
Troublingly, the report states: “Most users do not receive training, but rely on information from the car seller, the user manual or they apply the ‘trial-and-error’ method.
“The quality of both information and instruction via these learning methods is found to be imperfect, which means that drivers are provided with incorrect and/or incomplete information and instruction.”
This is highlighted as potentially leading to “unsafe traffic situations” – an issue exacerbated by results showing that drivers often demonstrated a high degree of trust in the systems, even if they did not understand how they worked or what they could do.
You don’t have to look far for evidence of that; social media channels, for one thing, are rife with clips of drivers using advanced assistance systems in confident yet completely misguided and reckless fashions.
The safety organisation IAM Roadsmart, prompted by the FIA’s findings, has subsequently called for manufacturers, instructors, dealerships and the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to collaborate on introducing ADAS training for motorists.
“Advanced driver assistance systems have the potential to improve road safety, but only if used correctly,” said Neil Greig, director of policy and research at safety organisation IAM Roadsmart.
“If used incorrectly, not least without a full understanding of what the systems are and are not capable of, they can have the opposite effect, with potentially worrying consequences for all road users.”
And that last point is another well worth bearing in mind: you’re not on the road in isolation – and an ADAS-related issue or distraction could end up involving another person.
Increasing dependency on automated systems may also degrade a driver's observational skills, driving prowess and attention, compounding the matter further.
Couple all of that with system failures or glitches, seemingly ever-declining driving standards, the comparatively low requirements of the driving test, and the rising availability of powerful cars that can get drivers into serious trouble in the blink of an eye, and you’ve quite the melting pot of problems.
I’m not saying we should curb the development and deployment of driver aids and safety systems, of course – quite the opposite, given the advantages – but just that everything possible needs to be done to maximise the benefits while minimising risk, including ensuring that drivers understand and use the technologies properly.
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Keyword: Opinion: More automation? More training, please