ADAS crash safety systems may be getting better and more prevalent with every year but that hasn’t stopped as many as a fifth of drivers switching them off, insurance data indicates.
The AAMI Crash Index research of 480,000 claims shows one in five drivers confessed to disabling their car’s safety features including more than half who responded they found safety features “annoying”, “distracting”, and “too sensitive”
Almost a quarter believe they “don’t need” the assistance of in-car safety features (23 per cent), while 13 per cent said they “don’t trust” the safety features (13 per cent).
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AAMI Motor Prevention Manager Mary Kennedy says these reactions were despite the systems showing ADAS vehicles were less likely to be in an accident and more than half of drivers (59 per cent) agreeing they improved road safety.
“In car safety features aren’t just gadgets, they’re designed to help protect us and make our roads safer. We should be embracing these features, not turning them off.
“Nose to tail collisions are the most common type of crash on our roads – they’re expensive, occur frequently, but most importantly many are preventable.”
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AEB braking was made mandatory in vehicles in March this year and was one of five festures drivers looked for in new cars along with reverse cameras, blind spot detection/monitoring, parking assist and adaptive cruise control
“Many of the safety features drivers are turning off, like collision warning and automatic emergency braking, are really effective at preventing these types of crashes, along with many others including reversing into another vehicle or object such as a trolley or bollard.
The research found systems most commonly turned off were; lane departure warning and lane keeping assist (45 per cent), adaptive cruise control (17 per cent), parking assist (17 per cent), automatic emergency braking (16 per cent) and forward collision warning (11 per cent).
“Drivers should understand and use these safety features to enhance their own awareness, reduce the risk of human error, and avoid getting into an accident in the first place.