Recent survey data has found several links between smart car features and safer driving behaviors. Whether you’re looking to be a more confident driver, avoid accidents, avoid traffic tickets, or all of the above, smart car technology can help!
Here’s how smart car features keep you safe on the road.
Smart Cars Make You Feel Safer So You Can Be a Confident Driver
Feeling safe is an important part of being a safe driver. Studies have found that anxiety while driving can make people more dangerous drivers in a few different ways. Some drivers become overly cautious, driving extra slowly or refusing to pass other slow-moving vehicles, which can cause unexpected traffic backups and accidents. Other people may become more aggressive when they’re anxious, sometimes driving recklessly or provoking other drivers, which can also lead to accidents.
But when you feel safe, you can drive more confidently, which makes driving feel easier and more fun!
And several smart car features are helping drivers feel safer so they can drive safer. Our recent survey found that rear cross-traffic alerts, automatic emergency braking, and blind-spot monitoring/backup cameras all make around 9 in 10 drivers feel safer. Here’s what the data says:
88 percent of those with rear cross-traffic alerts say it makes them feel safer.
86 percent of those with automatic emergency braking say it makes them feel safer.
91 percent of those with blind-spot monitoring and backup camera say these features make them feel safer.
What if you’re confident in your own driving but anxious about other drivers? Smart car features can help with that as well. Fifty-four percent of respondents with self-driving mode feel that this feature makes them less concerned about the errors of other drivers because they can trust their vehicle to react appropriately to other drivers, even when those drivers make mistakes.
By the way, if you don’t have a car with self-driving mode, you can still protect yourself from the mistakes of other drivers. Defensive driving courses teach you techniques for dealing with other drivers who may not be as responsible on the road as you are.
Smart Cars Help Drivers Avoid Accidents
Of course, the real test of smart car safety tech is whether or not it prevents accidents. And our survey data is incredibly encouraging on this point as well!
For example, 76 percent of respondents with forward collision warning believe that this feature helped them avoid an accident. This belief is supported by a lower accident rate for drivers with forward collision warning. These drivers were 20 percent less likely to report that they had been involved in an accident within the last year than drivers without forward collision warning.
And it’s not just forward collision warning. Eighty-six percent of survey drivers with automatic emergency braking say it has helped them avoid an accident. And 84 percent of those with rear cross-traffic alerts, plus 83 percent of those with blind-spot monitoring, say the same.
Smart Cars Can Save You From a Traffic Ticket
If feeling safer and avoiding accidents wasn’t enough reason to get excited about smart car technology, what if it could save you from getting a traffic ticket?
Getting a traffic ticket isn’t the end of the world. You can often get a ticket dismissed by taking a defensive driving course. But if you get an additional citation soon after getting a ticket dismissed, you might not be eligible for another defensive driving course dismissal. It’s best to just avoid getting a citation in the first place.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents with self-driving mode say this feature makes them less likely to receive a traffic citation. Even though drivers still need to be actively engaged while using today’s version of self-driving, the vehicle is able to accelerate, brake, and stay in its lane, which can dramatically reduce the risk of making citation-worthy offenses.
Drivers with road sign recognition report even better odds, with 77 percent of respondents agreeing that it decreases their chances of receiving a traffic citation. With road sign recognition, your vehicle can read important signs, like speed limit signs, and automatically adjust to follow the posted rules. This means less chance for human error that could get you a ticket.
The bottom line: if you want to feel safer on the road, avoid accidents, and avoid tickets, smart car tech can help!