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? 

Parents
  • It is a fair few years since I was involved in a traffic accident as a driver, probably around fifteen years ago I had finished work and was driving to an IET Local Group visit to RAF Shawbury near Shrewsbury to see a replica Second World War Horsa glider https://www.assaultglidertrust.co.uk/ and as it turned out to go into a Chinook helicopter that was being prepared for duty.

    The M54 motorway becomes the A5 dual carriageway and there was a queue of traffic because of an earlier shunt, in front of me was a soft top VW I realised it was braking although the brake lights were not visible, I stood on the brake and just stopped, but was hit up the rear and hit by another car from behind that then pushed me forward into the VW.

    There was some to’ing and fro’ing on the day between me and the other drivers and the insurance afterwards, but I had realised that it had been witnessed by two Highways England officers who were sat on a crash barrier at the side of the road and although they would not confirm to me what had happened, they did to the insurance companies and I came out of it blame free.

    However,  I could not understand why I could not see the brake lights, I told my insurance they didn’t work, then I pulled up behind a similar VW car and realised that these cars had LED brake lights that did not show as red when a strong light shown on them, I experimented by parking behind one and turning my headlights on, they just went white.

    I believe as I was driving to Shrewsbury the sun was behind us and the red LED lights were simply white and didn’t show up, I did brake and stop, but too quickly for the guy behind to respond, these days whilst driving a couple of tonnes of van and general tack around I’m very wary of braking distances and other vehicles lights, particularly LEDs.

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  • It is a fair few years since I was involved in a traffic accident as a driver, probably around fifteen years ago I had finished work and was driving to an IET Local Group visit to RAF Shawbury near Shrewsbury to see a replica Second World War Horsa glider https://www.assaultglidertrust.co.uk/ and as it turned out to go into a Chinook helicopter that was being prepared for duty.

    The M54 motorway becomes the A5 dual carriageway and there was a queue of traffic because of an earlier shunt, in front of me was a soft top VW I realised it was braking although the brake lights were not visible, I stood on the brake and just stopped, but was hit up the rear and hit by another car from behind that then pushed me forward into the VW.

    There was some to’ing and fro’ing on the day between me and the other drivers and the insurance afterwards, but I had realised that it had been witnessed by two Highways England officers who were sat on a crash barrier at the side of the road and although they would not confirm to me what had happened, they did to the insurance companies and I came out of it blame free.

    However,  I could not understand why I could not see the brake lights, I told my insurance they didn’t work, then I pulled up behind a similar VW car and realised that these cars had LED brake lights that did not show as red when a strong light shown on them, I experimented by parking behind one and turning my headlights on, they just went white.

    I believe as I was driving to Shrewsbury the sun was behind us and the red LED lights were simply white and didn’t show up, I did brake and stop, but too quickly for the guy behind to respond, these days whilst driving a couple of tonnes of van and general tack around I’m very wary of braking distances and other vehicles lights, particularly LEDs.

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