What Has Technology Done to Our Driving?
Article By: Scott Marshall
Scott Marshall is Director of Training for Young Drivers of Canada. He was a judge on the first 3 seasons of Canada’s Worst Driver on Discovery Network. Scott started writing columns on driving for his community paper since 2005. Since then his columns have been printed in several publications including newspaper, magazines and various web-sites. You can visit his own blog at http://safedriving.wordpress.com.
We all know how fast our society moves forward with technology. Recently I realized I’ve had a cell phone for 20 years. But boy, have they changed over those years. I was excited when I could text instead of spend the money on a long distance call when I was away from my city and needed to contact my family. Cell phones aren’t the only things that technology has changed. Vehicles are so different that they were just a handful of years ago. How has their technology affected you? Let’s do a before and after we had these new technologies for vehicles.
A number of new technologies have back up cameras. Before these cameras were made available, you had to either turn around to see what’s behind you while backing or use your rear view mirror. By the way, turning around is better as you get to use your peripheral vision to notice movement before the person gets behind your vehicle. The rear view camera can only show you the rear of the vehicle. Danger from behind doesn’t always originate from the rear; it can also come from the sides. By the time you spot the pedestrian behind you, it could be too late.
Some vehicles have flashing lights on their side mirrors that activate when someone is approaching your blind spot. Before these sensors were made available, you had to check your mirror and blind spot before changing lanes. What happens if the sensor is covered with mud or snow and can’t sense that another vehicle is in your blind spot? Will you take it for granted your blind spot is clear? It’s amazing how we can get used to our conveniences in our vehicle and when it’s broken or when we drive a different vehicle, we feel lost.
For these types of technologies, drivers may develop weak habits and trust the technology and forget how to do those things themselves. Is that the proper direction drivers should go in with all of this new technology? If drivers remember to use their mirrors regularly, you’ll know if another vehicle is entering your blind spot. Keep your short term memory sharp and never drop your guard.
Other technology makes driving a vehicle and servicing a vehicle so much easier for the driver and vehicle owner. Technology has made vehicles smoother to build, drive and maintain. The cost of maintenance has been reduced in many cases because of this advanced technology the automakers have done. However, should drivers also drop their guard because they feel nothing will go wrong with their vehicle?
This advanced technology was made by humans. Humans make mistakes. The advice to all drivers and vehicle owners is not to drop your guard with maintenance either. New technology for vehicles is amazing and that makes driving these vehicles awesome. However, take the responsibility that something may still go wrong and you’ll need to take over. Your brain is the best technology sometimes.