Why Safety Features Make Drivers Less Safe And Why You Shouldn’t Completely Rely On Your Car’s Safety Features

In an age where car manufacturers seem to cram as many safety features as they can into their higher end models, in the pursuit to build a car that’s as safe as possible, they might also be engineering our downfall. Here’s how:

The first thing that you need to consider is that almost all car accidents are caused by human error. Or at least, that’s the premise behind why car manufacturers spend a significant amount of time and resources into developing all these safety features. 

But, here’s a proposition: if 90% of all car accidents are caused by human error, wouldn’t not driving at all, then eliminate that factor (o at least 90% of it)?

No, this doesn’t mean that we take the human out of the equation (as is the case when we take self-driving cars into consideration), but rather, what if we had stricter standards for people who could and could not be allowed to drive a car? Just think of it. 

But, knowing you, dear readers, you’re going to want a bit of scientific basis to back these words up.

And So, We Bring Psychology Into The Conversation

The Yerkes-Dodson law puts a heavy emphasis on the interplay between arousal (or stimulation) versus performance. In essence, the Yerkes-Dodson law states that there needs to be the right amount of stimulation in order for a person to be able to perform properly.

The two extremes are as follows:

• Insufficient stimulation – The individual tends to become complacent when there is an utter lack of stimulation, thereby dampening his ability to react.

• Too much stimulation – The individual is overwhelmed by too much stimuli and thus cannot react promptly either.

Now, this is important in terms of driving because by creating all these safety features (such as Cruise Control, Steering Assist, Blind Spot Alarms), car manufacturers are in fact reducing the stimuli that drivers need to be aware of in order to perform their task well, namely the task of safe and competent driving. 

We are breeding a generation of drivers who are unaware and this, on a major scale, is a dangerous thing to do. This is especially concerning when you take into account that soon these drivers, who rely heavily on technology for awareness instead of training their senses, will eventually make up the majority of the driving public.

There’s a real danger in relinquishing our control to technology. After all, if you relinquish responsibility, you also relinquish authority. How can a driver ever be accountable for any misdeed when it’s so easy to claim that the technology built into the car was faulty? Even with seasoned car accident lawyers like the ones at Blumenshine Law, a facile argument that shifts blame from one’s failure to make a sound decision and onto the failure of technology, should not be allowed to become the norm.

At the end of the day, it’s the driver’s responsibility to ensure the safety of himself, the passengers, and other motorists. Technology has been known to fail from time to time. And while we humans fail twice as much, we shouldn’t be focusing on using technology as an alibi for our shortcomings. Rather, we should devote our efforts into becoming better individuals, better drivers, a better generation. Technology is great, but we should never discard our ability to learn and to improve, because before we had our technological advancements, we relied on our training to survive.