From generation to generation, cars are becoming safer, partly due to driver assistance systems. But this assurance is conditional.
To increase the level of safety, numerous driver assistance systems must of course be activated. But many drivers don’t know how these systems work and simply don’t turn them on.
The Consumer Reports agency is concerned about this turn of events and people’s unwillingness to understand what they’ve bought.
In many cases, this confusion leads to systems shutting down, effectively robbing the car of essential safety features. The agency has also developed detailed guidelines that suggest ways to simplify the use of safety and driver assistance systems.
“Steering wheels and control panels are littered with buttons with unfamiliar symbols that drivers must somehow recognize and understand while driving,” explains Jake Fisher, vehicle testing director. “But if they turn off the systems, it completely destroys safety – and then no one on the road benefits from it.”
So what is the Consumer Reports solution? Raise the level of “understanding, acceptance and satisfaction”. In other words, information.
Problem found. Now it only remains to decide how to train drivers and learn to trust electronic systems.
The Consumer Reports study was conducted by interviewing more than 35,000 car owners.
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