Technology has had a very clear impact on the way people drive. Vehicles are becoming more and more self sufficient, and gadgets are riddling the attention of many drivers every day. The roads are safer due to technology, but some technology takes safety one step backward.
When technology is utilized in the proper manner on the roads, driving becomes exponentially safer. When technology is misused on the roads, people get hurt. Check out a quick conversation highlighting the pros and cons of technology on the roads.
Smartphones on the roads
The rapid influx of smartphones into the culture of our daily lives has caused quite a lot of trouble on the roadways. People looking down at their cellphones while driving injures people and sometimes even leads to someone’s death. It has become somewhat of an epidemic, and there are new laws in place to hopefully correct the trouble.
On the flipside, your smartphone can keep you safer by providing simple directions and traffic notifications. You can avoid sketchy situations on the road, and get up-to-date notifications on any trouble ahead.
Automation technology
For fleet drivers, automation technology is a big boon. The use of Power Landing Gear, for example, can eliminate manual winding and physical difficulties during the adjustment of landing legs with just a push of a button. Avoiding manual labor in fleet operations and improving safety is much easier with these new technologies.
Autonomous cruise control
Autonomous cruise control is pretty freaking cool. If you’ve never experienced the excellence of this safety mechanism, you’ll love it. Autonomous cruise control makes it to where the driver can set their speed, and the vehicle will apply the break/gas accordingly.
It’s great when you’re on the interstate and a car pulls out in front of you. Instead of relying on your fast reflexes, your car will do the work using sensors that detect objects in your path.
A shield of airbags
Today’s vehicles come equipped with airbags all around the interior of the cab. Side airbags, front airbags, airbags for everyone. It’s clearly still very possible to be injured or even killed in a car accident, but today’s automotive technology keeps you safer than ever before in history.
Lane departure warnings
Lane departure mechanisms work similarly to the autonomous cruise control. If your vehicle begins to drift out of the lane, your vehicle will notify you, and turn the wheel ever so slightly to correct the issue.
Lane departure and autonomous cruise control technologies are great for adding a bit of safety to the roads, but there are a few concerns to be addressed. The nature of the autonomous features leaves room for drivers to divert their attention elsewhere. It’s also quite easy to fall asleep at the wheel when the wheel directs itself.
Reverse rear cameras
You can go ahead and mark down rear reverse cameras as a pro in the safety book. The ability to see behind the vehicle has saved the lives of many bicycles and skateboards left in the driveway overnight.
