Americans spend 70 billion hours behind the wheel, according to AAA. And while most of us assume we’ll be able to travel across local roadways (many of which were made from asphalt or the 88.5 million metric tons of concrete that were produced in 2018) without incident, that isn’t always the reality. Each year, over 37,000 Americans die in car accidents, while another 2.35 million are injured or become disabled as a result of auto collisions.
Fortunately, the growing popularity of built-in safety features can minimize the likelihood of a serious crash. But there may be issues associated with these features that might not always make them worthwhile.
Today’s most in-demand vehicles come with all the bells and whistles — many of which are made using a polyethylene. There are roughly 80 million tons of this high-performance plastic produced worldwide every year and it’s used, among other things, as auto electrical insulation material. But many of the features auto consumers are most concerned with seeing are made possible through digital technology. Emergency braking, blind-spot detection, lane assist and departure warning systems, back-up cameras, smart high beams, and other features are now seen as must-haves. That’s especially true for older drivers, who may benefit from elements that can make up for delayed reflexes. Not only can these safety features prevent accidents, but some experts maintain that purchasing a car with these safety features can translate to lower car insurance premiums. Older drivers may be able to negotiate lower rates if their vehicle is less likely to be involved in an accident.
However, those benefits might not be as clear-cut as we once thought. If these features help a driver avoid a collision, that’s excellent news. But if the features fail to prevent a crash, the auto repair and maintenance costs should be taken into account. While 80% to 90% of dents can be fixed using paintless dent repair techniques, major accidents that damage those higher-tech components (like adaptive headlights or side mirrors with blind-spot detection) will come with higher repair costs. When an EyeSight-equipped windshield becomes cracked, at no fault of the car owner, the cost of repairs or replacement might exceed $1,000.
That’s frightening news for many Americans. And what’s more, the safety payoff might not be worthwhile.
Explained Michael Klein, president of personal insurance at Travelers, to NPR: “At least thus far, the improvements in safety and accident avoidance hasn’t been significant enough to overtake the increase in cost to repair vehicles.”
Even more worrying is the knowledge that these systems might not always make us safer. According to an Esurance survey, 10% of drivers believe that semi-autonomous technology in cars is hindering their driving, with 30% of drivers reporting that alerts, blinking lights, and beeps associated with those systems can be distracting. Surprisingly, one in four drivers admits to disabling at least one car feature meant to improve their safety. A separate study published by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that drivers using vehicles equipped with automated safety features experienced a false sense of security, became less attentive to road conditions, and engaged in more distracted driving behaviors. And since an increase in road accidents correlates with the period in which these technologies were first introduced, some are skeptical that these features might be doing more harm than good. Even windshield wipers, which were created in 1903 and have become an extremely helpful automobile feature, may have had some hiccups along the way.
Still, that doesn’t mean you should completely eschew built-in safety features in your next vehicle. Driver assistance technologies have the potential to make a positive impact on collisions on U.S. roads, provided that they’re used as a supplement — rather than as a substitute — to safe driving practices. And when you consider that on average, homeowners spend almost 4% of their home’s value on repairs and maintenance every year, paying for an added bit of safety elsewhere might be a good idea. Since these technologies are still relatively new, it’s not quite clear as to how they’ll impact our nationwide accident rates. But if you do have these features in your vehicle, it’s essential to continue engaging in recommended behaviors behind the wheel — and to teach young drivers not to rely completely on them to keep them safe.
