Driver-assist technologies, such as blind-spot monitoring and lane departure warning, are designed to give you greater confidence behind the wheel. Parents of teen drivers, though, feel driver-assist tech may actually be sabotaging their kids’ skills.
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A recent study executed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety focused on 21 parents who have “at least four common driver assistance features to teach their teens to drive” — blind-spot monitoring, front or rear AEB, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, and lane departure prevention. The parents were divided into three focus groups.
After discussing their experiences with the tech and how it influences their kids’ driving education, the IIHS revealed that the parents consider the tech to provide a mixed bag of positive and negative benefits for their kids.
“Parents who have used advanced driving assistance features with their teens worry that things like blind-spot monitoring or lane departure warning systems could prevent them from learning the basics of driving, but they’re also aware those same features might save them from a crash,” says IIHS Research Scientist Rebecca West, who led the agency’s study.
IIHS reports that the prevalence of speeding and other unsafe driving practices increases the risk of a fatal crash three-fold compared to drivers who over 20 years of age or older. Additionally, older (and therefore cheaper) cars that lack modern safety tech can add to teen drivers’ risk.
Parents fear that their young drivers will become too dependent on the technology, and therefore be unable to operate a vehicle without it.
“Those features maker driving safer, but they don’t make you a safer driver,” said one parent. “Say my teen is driving in a car with all those features engaged [and] that’s what they get used to. Then they go out and buy their own car, and it’s got none of those features. That would be really scary for me.”
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Some parents also pointed out the potential distraction the tech causes, while others claimed the tech was important for nervous teens to feel more confident behind the wheel. The IIHS plans to conduct more research to determine how driver-assist tech should be used in teaching teens how to drive.
DeAnn Owens is a Dayton transplant by way of the Windy City, yet considers herself to be a California girl at heart even though she’s only visited there once. To get through the dreaded allergy season unique to the Miami Valley, she reads, writes, complains about the weather, and enjoys spending time with her husband, two sons, and their newest addition, a Boston terrier puppy that is now in charge of all their lives. In the future, she hopes to write a novel and travel through time. See more articles by DeAnn.