Car technology has really advanced in the past few years. Cars can park themselves, have tons of enhanced safety features, and are on the verge of being able to drive themselves. This begs the question: does in-car safety technology help make you — and your teen — safer on the roads?
Does In-Car Safety Technology Help Your Teen Drive Safer?
Letting your newly licensed teen have access to a car with the newest car-safety technology is a double-edged sword. The safety features should keep your inexperienced teen out of harm's way if they make a mistake. But on the other hand, teens may rely too much on these features and never actually learn proper driving techniques.
For example, if you have a car that can parallel park itself, your teen may never learn this crucial technique. Or, if a car has self-braking technology, they may become lazy or not be able to react in time if it fails. Either way, you can only prepare your teen driver so much for the road.
In-Car Safety Technology Reduces Collisions, Injuries, and Deaths
Even though teens may be overreliant on the newest safety features, there's no denying that they help save lives. Seatbelts, which were one of the first required safety features, reduce the risk of death by 45% and serious injury by 50%. Technology has only improved since then. Here's how each safety feature has reduced the number of injuries and deaths to drivers.
Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) — Prevented 83% of all front-end to rear-end collisions. It reduced these by 57% for teen drivers, 81% for young adult drivers, and 99% for adult drivers. AEB works by automatically applying the brakes when you approach a car too quickly.
Cameras and Sensors — Stopped 17% of potential collisions from backing into something. The backup camera allows you to see behind you while driving in reverse. It works with sensors that indicate how close you are to an object. Newer vehicles even have 360-degree cameras and sensors.
Driver Attention Monitor — 3,142 people died in 2020 due to distracted driving. This technology uses cameras and sensors to detect the angle and movement of your head and eyes for distracted driving or drowsy driving. When it detects you looking at your phone or falling asleep, it sounds an alarm and suggests taking a driving break.
Lane Departure Prevention (LDP) — Lowered the rates of head-on and sideswipe collisions in vehicles with LDP by 32%. LDP automatically keeps your vehicle in its lane if you start to drift.
Lane Departure Warnings (LDW) — Reduced the rates of head-on and sideswipe collisions in vehicles with LDW by 18%. The rates of crashes with injuries dropped by 24% and those with fatalities by 86%. LDW works by sounding an alarm when you start to drift out of your lane.
This data shows that in-car safety technology plays an important role in keeping drivers safe in a world full of distractions.
Combine In-Car Safety with the Proper Techniques
Your teen driver should learn proper driving techniques before completely relying on safety features to do it for them. Once they master these techniques, combining them with in-car safety features will only make them safer drivers. Another way for them to become a safer driver is by signing up for a driver's ed course at DriversEd.com. They'll learn driving skills at their own convenience.
Updated 12/8/22