Technology has grown beyond our thoughts! What we dreamt and heard in fictional stories 20 years ago have now become reality through technology. Technology has found its way into the automotive sector. In fact, manufacturers are competing to provide the best possible technology to the end users of their used cars.
So now comes the big question: Has technology brought out the worst in drivers or have they improvised?
Gaadibazaar.com starts with a good part of technology how it has helped drivers drive better.
Driver-Assistance Technology
As the name suggests, this technology assists drivers while they use a good condition car. Some of the notable driver assistance technologies are cruise control and lane adjustment assist. Cru ise control takes away fatigue from drivers when in long distance travel. It senses the way the human drives the car and maintains a particular speed automatically when cruise control is enabled. Lane adjustment technology helps drivers maintain lane. When the driver gets distracted and the car goes out of lane, this technology self-steers and brings the car back into the lane. Drivers are nowadays assisted with automatic braking as well.
Parking Assistance Technology
All drivers find parking a car to be a challenge. Even experienced drivers have had instances of scratches or dents while parking in tight spaces. This technology has come to the aid of so many drivers across the world. Reverse sensors aide drivers by alerting them via sounds when they get too close to an object behind the car. The most advanced parking assistance technology currently available is parking assistance with a 360-degree camera. You will be able to see the Birds Eye view of the car in your infotainment system. When you get too close to a nearby object, the technology will either brake or give you an alert in the form of a sound, a visual or a vibration.
Automatic Drives
Technology has enabled modern cars to drive automatically. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) have classified automation into levels from 0 to 5. Level 0 means no automation and driving only with human involvement. Level 1 uses one driver assistance technology. In level 2, two or three driver assistance technologies are used together. In Level 3 and 4, human involvement is required while most of the driving aspects are taken care of by technology. Level 6 means no human involvement and technology takes over the driving. As of now, levels 4, 5 and 6 are not permitted in any country. For more on automation read, the rise of autonomous cars.
Apart from the above, some technology like ABS, EBD have become a mandate in almost all cars. Now let’s go through the factors which are not helping drivers drive better due to technology.
Attention Grabbing
Technology is so good that it takes some of her attention while driving. The infotainment screen taking prominence at the dashboard can do wonders. Combined with Android Auto or Apple CarPlay you have access to the Internet and to other functionalities such as taking calls or typing messages through voice assist. While this is good in so many measures, it can also divert your attention.
Notably there are rising cases of accidents due to such distractions.
Too Much Dependence
Remember the times when we used to stop and ask directions to go to a place? With the dawn of navigation systems, we think we know the world. Navigation systems are prone to glitches. Too much dependence on navigation systems have made drivers end up in dead ends or travel more kilometres than what they ought to. Man’s senses are definitely greater than any sort of technology. The next time you see an obstacle behind the car, and you are sure that you should stop accelerating rather than depend on the parking sensors brakes, you should stop.
Technology is great! It has made life so much easier and better in many forms. But the writing on the wall right now is car technology has its limitations. Will you crash your car just because you have airbags? You wouldn’t! Driving involves life. These bad reasons cannot outweigh the good reasons that technology brings. With little precaution and care, you can use technology to its fullest and have a safe drive.