Are Vehicle Safety Features … Unsafe?

Modern passenger vehicle technology is amazing.  Safety features from blind spot monitors, to adaptive cruise control, to lane control assistance, to automatic braking are now available in more cars than ever before.   But could that be a bad thing?

According to a recently released study, the answer is “yes,” at least sometimes.  USA Today reports that the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety concluded that some safety tech can actually cause drivers to be less safe.  By relying too heavily on driving-assistance features, some motorists are becoming less attentive to the road and more likely to be distracted.

Distracted driving is a major and almost completely preventable threat to everyone on the road.  In 2017, over 3,000 people died in the U.S. as a result of distracted driving, to say nothing of the injuries and property damage that also resulted.

Vehicle safety technology, when used properly, can make our highways much safer than they used to be.  But drivers, manufacturers, and sellers need to work together to fully understand how best to use these great new features.