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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? 

  • The last fatality was due to someone turning onto the wrong carriageway and driving head first into an oncoming vehicle, it really is a road where drivers need to keep their wits about them.

  • That's where automation is a good thing. With automatic headlights, illumination is optimized, but oncoming traffic is not dazzled. With adaptive cruise control, you won't get done for speeding and you won't run into the back of anybody.

    It can come unstuck when the technology doesn't work as expected though. A friend of mine had a crash-avoidance system in his car - but almost ran into the car infront ... because the garage has left the system switched off after a service, and he's sort of got used to the car optimising the stopping distance.

       - Andy.

  • Can all the in vehicle technology increase risks, because drivers become complacent and desensitized to dangers?

     Hazard Desensitization _ For Electrical Personnel in high Hazard Environments 

  • Hi Ms. Lisa,
    All vehicles (without exception), when the headlights are turned on, the rear lights are also on.

    Most vehicles also have a fog light (a light that shines very strongly) and it is activated by a separate switch that the driver presses.

    You are right, the drivers are sometimes not careful and it can cause an accident, God forbid.

    I suggest you not trust others and be careful and keep a long distance from the vehicle in front of you.

    I suggest that you go to my office's website at the link (you can translate from Hebrew to English on Google the article I wrote on the subject).

    engineering-davodian.site123.me/.../מערכת-הבלמים-של-הרכב-יכולים-להשפיע-על-מרחק-עצירה

    engineering-davodian.site123.me/.../מערכת-הבלמים-של-הרכב-יכולים-להשפיע-על-מרחק-עצירה

  • Won't happen when vehicles are fully automated!

  • Unfortunately people have already been killed by self driving vehicles, they are far from infallible.


    www.bbc.co.uk/.../technology-54175359

    Motorcyclists don’t come out well from encounters with self driving vehicles. 

    fortune.com/.../

  • What does a delivery robot do of it cannot reach the button on a pedestrian crossing?

    www.bbc.co.uk/.../uk-england-cambridgeshire-63821535

  • I have just viewed a motor manufacturer's advert featuring a driverless concept car.

    It strikes me that actual human drivers are prepared to take risks. A driverless car would not.

  • More likely things like that  will still happen with depressing frequency, but only for some models of car running a particular version of the firmware that turn into the roadworks instead of around them on wednesdays or something odd. What will be lost is the truly random element.

    Have you never been delivered to the wrong place by satnav ?

    Mike.

  • I have just viewed a motor manufacturer's advert featuring a driverless concept car.

    Saw that too Chris! Nice looking piece of kit to be fair Blush

    But then I'm driving around in one of their other 'concept cars' that was unveiled at the 1995 Frankfurt Motor show,  so I guess I'm a bit biased... Joy