These Are the Assistance Systems That Are Most Often Switched Off by Drivers

New cars come today with a plethora of electronic helpers that are expected to complement the driver in hazardous situations and assure a safer car journey. These are called “assistance systems” or “safety systems” and include things like automatic emergency braking, blind-spot assist, and lane departure warnings, along with adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist systems. Some people see these systems as a stepping stone toward automated driving, while others simply see them as a sidestep.

As for the drivers, they often treat these assistance systems as inconveniences, and this is why they tend to switch them off as soon as they start the engine (in case the “off” setting cannot be applied permanently in the settings menu). And that is despite a Consumer Reports analysis that found out these safety systems could cut road deaths in half if they were to be made standard on every new vehicle.

To see what is pushing drivers to switch off the safety feature of their cars, Erie Insurance recently commissioned a U.S. survey among 500 owners of modern vehicles. The study showed people turn off assistance systems mainly because they find them annoying or even distracting. The finding goes in line with another study conducted by American Automobile Association (AAA) that showed the assistance systems do not perform consistently in real traffic situations.

Erie’s survey reveals the most disabled driver-assist feature is the adaptive cruise control, which uses radar to maintain a prescribed distance from the vehicles in front. Almost a third (30%) of the drivers that own a car with adaptive cruise control turn off this feature because they want to feel in control of the vehicle.

Second on the list is lane-keeping assist, with 25% of motorists admitting they disable the feature that keeps the car centered within lane markings. The reason indicated is they found it annoying to wrestle with the steering wheel. Likewise, 21% of the drivers switch off lane departure warning systems because they go off too frequently.

Another system that is deactivated from the get-go is the attention assist, which emits an audible warning if the driver appears to be distracted or tired. The reason 22% of motorists disable this system is that it generates too many false alarms.

Two of the most useful safety systems are the collision assist and the blind spot monitor. Despite being able to significantly cut the number of crashes and associated injuries by a significant margin, both systems are turned off by 11%, and 9% of drivers, respectively.

The last position in the survey (and a big surprise, I must say) is the backup camera, which displays what’s to the rear while the car is in reverse. Well, six percent of drivers find this feature distrustful, despite IIHS saying such cameras can reduce backup crashes by 17%. I guess carmakers need to go back to the drawing board if they want such safety features to be accepted.