The frenzied excitement surrounding driverless cars keeps growing with innovative models entering the market annually.
Although much of the attention has been positive, experts are now grappling with the negative side effects of this new technology. An area of increasing concern is driver focus.
Because fully automated cars are not yet available on the market, drivers must stay sufficiently engaged in case a situation arises that the automated system is unable to process. However, this is proving to be more of a problem then anticipated.
According to a new study, as drivers become comfortable using the automated system, they tend to focus less on the road.
“Drivers were more than twice as likely to show signs of disengagement after a month of using Pilot Assist compared with the beginning of the study,” Said Ian Reagan, the lead author of the study “Compared with driving manually, they were more than 12 times as likely to take both hands off the wheel after they’d gotten used to how the lane centering worked.”
The false sense of security could have deadly ramifications, as it could lead to more crashes. The heightened concern led the Insurance Institute of Highways Safety to introduce a new set of recommendations for encouraging driver focus in partially automated vehicles.
Victims have rights
Whether the vehicle is partially automated or not, for Indiana drivers seriously injured in a car accident the road back to normal is long.
Acclimating to this new reality is always a challenge but moving on is even more difficult if the crash was caused by someone else’s wrongdoing. How do you seek justice for yourself and your family?
Thankfully, car accident victims have rights under the law. They can file a personally injury lawsuit that, if successful, can result in a significant monetary award.
The first step is contacting an experience car accident lawyer. They can evaluate your case and form a plan built around your unique objectives.
