How many of you have
learned to drive stick shift? How many have you learned to parallel park
without using a backup camera? How many of you have listened to the radio that required you to
turn a dial? Lastly, how many of you have used a physical map to get you to
point A to point B? I know I can raise my hand to all of these questions
because I was not raised to rely on technology to help me drive. My first car
was a used Toyota Matrix 2004 that was given to me in the summer of 2013 when I
was starting my first year of University. Yes, I did not expect my parents to
provide me with the latest and greatest car as it would teach me nothing. I
feel that in today's society young drivers are too privileged and entitled as
they feel they need a backup camera and notifications when it is safe to merge
into a lane in order to get to point A to point B. Right here folks is another
perfect example where we have allowed ourselves to rely on technology in order
function!
What if one day all safety features were shut down in all the cars?
would you feel safe one the road? I have a funny feeling that there would be a
lot more accidents simply because many have not learned how to drive
independently without technology holding their hand. Don’t get me wrong, all
these safety features are amazing and help you to have that piece of mind while on the road. But
there are red flags, parents are too blind to see how their kids safety could
be put at risk if they are not taught
how to drive a car without the help of safety features. I know from
experience, when it comes to your drivers test, you are not are not permitted
to use any safety features. According to a report, Sean de Jager who has been teaching road safety and advanced
driver training in Toronto area for more than a decade brought up many
concerns. He feels that these new features may be causing more problem than
they are solving, "Some drivers think they're being told they have nothing
to fear and so they stop respecting the road" ; in other words these new
technologies are making drivers worse (Mulholland, 2018). With that being said,
if we are not allowed to use these features when doing a drivers test then they
should not be in cars as people will become lazy and develop bad driving
habits.Now I ask you; for your first car would you rather have a used car that has no safety features compared to a new one that has safety features?
References:
Mulholland, A.
(2018, March 07). How new safety technology might actually be making our
driving worse. Retrieved May 17, 2018, from https://www.ctvnews.ca/features/how-new-safety-technology-might-actually-be-making-our-driving-worse-1.3823118
Hi Ioana!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you, people need to crawl before than can walk. When I first starting driving, I didn't have a high-tech car, it was all based on knowledge. I find that adolescents are too eager to rely on the technology and not learn the basics, they just want to take the easy road.
Can't say that I agree with you on this one. Technology is created to make our lives easier, it wouldn't be terribly smart to just not use it. Furthermore, tech related to cars are generally tested extremely rigorously, and have to pass very specific rules before they are road-worthy. They're not about to fail anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteRegarding safety features, the more the better. Older cars are horrible for their injury and death rates in accidents, car enthusiasts really shouldn't idolize them as much as they do. Regardless of the car, you can easily get t-boned by a careless driver at an intersection, even if you're a great driver.
I have mixed emotions about this topic as I do believe it is important to learn how to drive without aid, especially if you need to know how to drive a car that is not yours. But on the other hand, I also think that we have advancements for a reason: safety, and at the end of the day that is what is most important when anyone is out on the road. For the driver and for the other drivers out there on the road with them. For instance, older cars didn’t have seatbelts and used a stick shift to drive, but just because all cars now require seatbelts and some are automatic, which I believe makes them safer, therefore it would be foolish to not use these features/advancements to our advantage for the sake of safety. I believe the real issues with advancements come into play when new drivers become way too reliant on the new features and therefore drive with less caution. I know a few drives who rely too much on backup cameras or blind spot lights and therefore don’t bother checking over their should when backing up or switching lanes. Others also rely way too heavily on those cars that slow themselves down when approaching too close to another car which can lead to reckless driving out of a feeling of false security. Overall, I believe the new safety features are good to use to make the roads safer, but it becomes an issue when new dangers are created due to recklessness and over dependency on these features.
ReplyDeleteHi Ioana,
ReplyDeleteI can raise my hand for all but stick shift, because I just can't comprehend how anyone can drive like that! I think people forget that technology fails. We need to be able to rely on our own mechanics, rather than trust a computer that can have bugs, malfunctions and system failures. Look at the self-driving vehicles and the accidents that have been reported. I think it is scary to put so much faith into computer systems.
Rachael