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? 

  • I confess I was always reluctant to use engine braking with a manual gearbox when going down hills, but I always used it to reduce braking when slowing down for e.g. traffic lights.  My current car is a VW Golf with automatic gear changing, which to me seems more efficient.  A 7 speed double gear train, one with odd gears, the other with reverse and even gears.  It works by electronically pre-selecting the next gear, and switching gear train at the appropriate revs, controlled by the engine management system.  (Selecting Sports alters the fuel injection and gear changeover point).

    It also selects a lower gear when prolonged braking for instance when going downhill.  It is a far cry from my 1980’s 3-speed fluid flywheel Ford Sierra that always ran very hot when towing a caravan.

  • prolonged braking for instance when going downhill

    Better to brake in fairly heavy bursts than to keep the brakes on all the time! 

  • Agreed, but it still recognises that it is longer than normal slowing down and changes down.

  • A friend of mine has a Tesla model 3 and I find being inside it really odd. Inside is just a steering wheel and a very large tablet screen with nothing else. It's very unnerving as a passenger and I think I'd really hate it as the driver of one. 

    They love to demonstrate how fast it can accelerate but it doesn't help them with their overall standard of driving which to be honest, is really not good anyway! Scream

  • Very true Chris - one of the scariest experiences of my driving life was overheating the brakes in my old Renault 4 when following another car crawling down a steep hill in Derbyshire...with only a 900cc engine the engine braking didn't do much when the brakes stopped working...I was VERY lucky to get away with that one. Although of course that was drum brakes.

  • Hi  Lisa,

    Here in Israel, some of the autonomous systems are canceled because of all kinds of bureaucracy

  • The newer model of my M-B has a tablet in the middle. I decided not to buy one. First, because I fail to see how any "switch" could be operated by feel alone; and second, because this tablet which I am using right now is covered in fingerprints and I wouldn't want that in a car.

  • From a different thread ...

    You mean one pedal driving right? 

    There's nothing to be worried about in that sense because depending on the EV, the regen is pretty strong. I mean I can slow ours down to 5mph (which is the regen limit before it cuts off) using only the accelerator pedal. 

    You still have the option of the footbrake if required (which 90% of the time it isn't), and with the collision mitigation braking tech in most vehicles now that further serves to reinforce the safety aspect.

    I feel sure that this has implications for driving licenses. How long would it be until drivers who rely on these aids become unable to use a car with conventional controls, be they with a manual or an automatic gearbox?

  • @Chris Pearson just like driving a dodgem.

  • I went for a test drive yesterday in a top of the range small car.

    Having taken my wife to a car dealership on the previous day to look at an entry level car in the range there had been a suggestion that I may be a cheapskate, as I was looking at a version that has knobs for controlling the air con and doesn’t have a touch screen.

    When we went back for a test drive as expected the demonstration car is the top of the range with all the bells and whistles, including a do-it-all touchscreen which you have to look down at to use.

    I actually like the knobs to control the air con, the touch screen would not allow easy adjustment whilst driving and I actually consider the knobs to be safer.