According to federal estimates, car safety tech can prevent about 40 percent of auto accidents and 30 percent of accident-related fatalities. Unfortunately, a lot of drivers in Ohio and across the U.S. are overestimating the abilities of such technology, mistakenly believing that it can replace rather than simply assist them.
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has released a report on this trend, and some of the statistics are alarming. It appears that misleading marketing can have a lot to do with it. In addition, many drivers are not properly educated on car safety tech by auto manufacturers, dealers and rental car agencies.
Among the individuals who have cars with blind-spot monitoring, 80 percent overestimate its ability to identify vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians when they are approaching quickly. When their cars feature this technology, 25 percent of drivers neglect to look for oncoming vehicles when changing lanes. The use of another safety feature, adaptive cruise control, has led to 29 percent of people thinking it is acceptable to engage in other activities while behind the wheel.
Other individuals are unfamiliar with the basic differences between features. More than 40 percent, for instance, cannot differentiate between the forward-collision warning, which simply gives a warning, and the automatic emergency braking, which takes action. AAA has expressed concern that such drivers will find it hard to adapt to semiautonomous vehicles because these, too, require driver input on occasion.
When overreliance on technology leads to negligent behavior, and that, in turn, leads to car accidents, victims can explore filing a third-party insurance claim. This is where a lawyer can come in, evaluate the case, hire investigators to build it up if the grounds are good and then negotiate for a settlement. Victims cannot file, though, unless they have reached maximum medical improvement. At the same time, they must file within two years of the incident.
