Has automation in the automotive industry made drivers lazy?

It's been a beautiful summer here in the UK this year. We've been treated to day after day of blue sky and sunshine making the commute to work an absolute dream. 

However, I woke up the other morning to find the world wrapped in a thick blanket of mist and fog for the first time in what feels like a decade (but in reality is probably only a few months Blush)

So, on the commute to work that morning, I popped on my fog lights (both back and front) while driving along the country road that winds from my village and out to the main highway to help my fellow travellers see me in this fog soup, only to come up rapidly behind a small silver grey Peugeot with no lights on! Then on the other side of the carriageway, more cars coming head on out of the mist with again with no lights on... Fearful

I would safely estimate that 3 out of every 10 cars I encountered on my journey into work that morning through the thick fog and mist, was not sporting any lights on their car at all let alone the very useful fog lights that are purpose made for driving in situations of reduced visibility.

I'm aware that many modern cars have automatic lights that come on when light levels are low BUT I'm finding that many drivers are not taking matters into their own hands when it comes to deciding when their car lights should actually be illuminated. Again the other day the sky went black and there was a sudden downpour on the way home from work and again, many drivers did not have their lights on probably opting for the decision to be taken by the onboard light sensors instead. 

A friend of mine also has automatic main beam on her car so she doesn't have to decide when to use it and when not to. The car makes that decision for her. 

It got me thinking... have we gone too far with automation in vehicles? Should we be encouraging drivers to make more decisions for themselves when behind the wheel of their car? Have we in fact through automation, removed too much responsibility from the driver themselves? 

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  • I have admit that having been driving in the Cornish mizzle over the last couple of days there have been several times when I've been caught out by this, exactly for this reason. I'm so used to the auto on "just working" that I probably don't engage brain as much as I should, particularly after months of clear weather. That said, my car is now 13 years old, maybe the technology's improved? My auto lights (Honda Civic) do work very well for pure light levels, what they don't work for is poor visibility, which we get a lot down here over autumn and winter, and I guess is much harder to detect.

    It's rather like one of the issues I've been slightly involved with in the day job over the last few years: Imagine a rail level crossing where at present the crossing user has to look up and down the track, and a proposed system where (simplistically) there is an "add on" warning system with instructions that the user should stop on a red signal, and if no red signal is shown only cross if they've looked up and down the track. Will they actually look up and down the track or just walk straight across? Probably they (or at least many) will just walk straight across - after all in their mind "the technology" would have lit the red signal if there was a train coming. It's surprisingly difficult to fit assisting safety measures.

    There's the simple alternative which my wife's car has which is that you can just drive with dipped headlights (and taillights) all the time and they turn off when the engine's off - much safer but not very fuel efficient!

    Cheers,  

     Andy

Reply
  • I have admit that having been driving in the Cornish mizzle over the last couple of days there have been several times when I've been caught out by this, exactly for this reason. I'm so used to the auto on "just working" that I probably don't engage brain as much as I should, particularly after months of clear weather. That said, my car is now 13 years old, maybe the technology's improved? My auto lights (Honda Civic) do work very well for pure light levels, what they don't work for is poor visibility, which we get a lot down here over autumn and winter, and I guess is much harder to detect.

    It's rather like one of the issues I've been slightly involved with in the day job over the last few years: Imagine a rail level crossing where at present the crossing user has to look up and down the track, and a proposed system where (simplistically) there is an "add on" warning system with instructions that the user should stop on a red signal, and if no red signal is shown only cross if they've looked up and down the track. Will they actually look up and down the track or just walk straight across? Probably they (or at least many) will just walk straight across - after all in their mind "the technology" would have lit the red signal if there was a train coming. It's surprisingly difficult to fit assisting safety measures.

    There's the simple alternative which my wife's car has which is that you can just drive with dipped headlights (and taillights) all the time and they turn off when the engine's off - much safer but not very fuel efficient!

    Cheers,  

     Andy

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