Kozminski Techblog

Impact of Technology on Driving

Prepared by: Artem Beregovskykh

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In the past 20 years, technology had a massive impact not only on the business market segments but also on our day-to-day life and the automotive industry is not the exception. With the increased use of technologies and its implementation in the new cars, they became safer, more economical, less polluting and more “independent” than they have ever been. On the other side, drivers became way too reliant on the new systems and in some cases that leads to deadly accidents. This report will focus on the impact of new systems implemented in cars and how they benefit and deteriorate the way we transport ourselves.

Automakers are investing the majority of their budgets on improving the safety of their new car models [3]. Several new systems were introduced to reduce the possibility of getting into an accident, let’s look at some of them in a more detailed way. Firstly, the Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) approximately 50% of both head-on and rear-end collisions were prevented by this system. Furthermore, the auto manufacturers in North America have agreed that this feature will come as a standard option on new vehicles from 2022 [3]. Second, Blind-Spot warning systems help you changing lanes and avoiding hitting a car in the blind spot have reduced nearly 14% of side crashes [2]. The electronic stability control (ESC) helped to prevent nearly half of the severe accidents involving roll-overs [3]. Adaptive Headlights are turning with your cars wheels allowing you to see what is in front of your car when you are entering a turn and avoiding an obstacle at the curve if it is present [1]. Although, the governments around the world are stiffening the regulations on safety features of new cars a lot of people worldwide are still dying in major crashes.

As new cars are becoming more technologically-advanced we expect them to be safer. However, in the USA there was a 50% increase in car accidents from 2015 to 2016 involving deaths and fatalities, which was the biggest annual increase in 50 years [4]. Also, from 2005 to 2008 the rise of telephone usage contributed to the growing amount of car accidents by 28% [9]. In the USA in 2017 texting and driving included 14% of fatal crashes [7]. Another way automakers are trying making public roads safer, is by developing and introducing self-driving systems. On the automotive market, Tesla is seen as the most tech-driven company but there were a lot of complaints from the drivers when Tesla cars were very close to hitting an obstacle when operating under the autopilot if the driver was not strictly following its manoeuvres [6]. However, there were also tragic instances when Teslas were involved in deadly car accidents when the autopilot was turned on. In 2019 Model  Tesla went under a truck resulting in the death of a driver. In the same year, the most expensive model in Tesla’s lineup Model X went into a barrier, caught on fire killing the driver [8]. In the end, people become highly dependent on the new technologies in their cars that they lose the caution and control over the process that increases the possibility of dying or getting serious injuries in a car accident.

Although, new cars are safer and more efficient than the old ones there are a lot of things that must be done to prevent future collisions and deadly accidents. Moreover, today’s drivers must be constantly involved in the driving process and control the environment around them, this approach will help reduce most of the crashes. To sum up, I believe that all auto manufacturers  should engage in more deeper research and development of the new systems in cars to reduce the possibility of its failure to a minimum. However, in the near future, I do not believe that cars will be able to operate without the driver’s presence.

Works Cited

1. Agarwal, H. (2018, March 20). How Does Technology Help To Reduce Car Accidents? CEOWORLD magazine. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://ceoworld.biz/2018/03/20/how-does-technology-help-to-reduce-car-accidents/.
2. Automated safety systems found to prevent car crashes. (2017, August 23). Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4815388/Studies-automated-safety-systems-preventing-car-crashes.html.
3. Bubbers, M. (2017, October 17). Five vehicle safety technologies that can help you avoid a crash. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/culture/technology/five-vehicle-safety-technologies-that-can-help-you-avoid-a-crash/article36533631/.
4. Coplan, & Crane. (2016, December 10). How Technology is Increasing Car Accident Risks. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://www.coplancrane.com/posts/understanding-rising-car-accident-risks-caused-by-new-technology/.
5. Feldman, J. (2018, November 14). It’s Time to Change Tactics in the Fight Against Distracted Driving. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://www.legalexaminer.com/transportation/its-time-to-change-tactics-in-the-fight-against-distracted-driving/.
6. Gibbs, S. (2015, October 21). What happens when Tesla’s AutoPilot goes wrong: owners post swerving videos. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/21/tesla-autopilot-goes-wrong-videos.
7. Styles, M. (n.d.). 2019 Cell Phone Texting and Driving Accident Statistics. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://www.after-car-accidents.com/texting-and-driving-accidents.html.
8. Tesla Model 3: Autopilot engaged during fatal crash. (2019, May 17). Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48308852.
9. Wilson, F. A., & Stimpson, J. P. (2010, November). Trends in fatalities from distracted driving in the United States, 1999 to 2008. Retrieved October 19, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951952/.