Drivers Still Don't Trust Safety Assist Systems

A majority of buyers still aren’t sold on driver assist technology; a survey released by Pennsylvania-based insurer Erie Insurance revealed.

Thirty percent of drivers turn off adaptive cruise control, making it the top safety feature that drivers disable.

The survey identifies 11 safety features that are disabled the most. Lane-keeping assist and driver-attention monitoring round out the top three.

Despite paying significant amount of money for these driver assist features, drivers disable them due to the lack of control, limited helpfulness, false alarms, lack of trust and bad experiences.

Safety features in vehicles from the 2016-20 model years are designed to decrease crashes. For example, front-collision warnings with automated braking have cut front-to-rear crashes with injuries by more than half, a survey last year by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found.

But the Erie survey found that 17 percent of respondents turn off automated emergency braking, and 11 percent turn off forward-collision warning.

Drivers also disable lane-departure warning, traffic sign recognition, pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and backup cameras.

Safety Features Turned Off by Drivers

• Adaptive Cruise Control – 30 percent
• Lane Keeping Assist – 23 percent
• Driver Attention Monitor – 22 percent
• Lane Departure Warning – 21 percent
• Automated Emergency Braking – 17 percent
• Traffic Sign Recognition – 14 percent
• Forward Collision Warning – 11 percent
• Pedestrian Detection – 11 percent
• Blind-spot Monitoring – 9 percent
• Rear Cross Traffic Alert – 9 percent
• Backup Camera – 6 percent

Source: Car Guides PH