Is Reliance On Technology Replacing Driving Skill On The Road?

From the moment I passed my test I felt that my driving licence would be a passport to adventure. Admittedly for the first handful of years these ‘adventures’ were really just exploring local roads, but as life changed and I started working as a motoring journalist, that long-held belief very much came to be. 

Since that day of days in the summer of 1988 I’ve driven all kinds of cars in all kinds of places. Of course this includes regularly exploring the UK and charging through most of Europe, but I’ve also driven Scandinavia and hooned around frozen lakes in the Arctic Circle and rallied a Porsche Cayenne from Moscow to Mongolia. I’ve taken a Ferrari along remote sections of the Silk Road in north-western China, pinned the throttle of a Holden Monaro from the heart of the Australian Outback to Darwin on the tropical north coast, and explored Abu Dhabi in a McLaren P1. No two journeys the same, no two countries sharing the same motoring vibe.

jeffgall - 2/23/2018 11:36:33 AM

-1 Boost

Yes. Even the back up camera is creating bad drivers. On two occasions, in a crowded parking lot, ther person parked next to me almost ran over my kids as they were getting out of the car. If the morons had used their side mirrors as well, they would have seen them standing next to my car. I ripped into them like no other.

Tiberius1701A - 2/23/2018 4:20:58 PM

+1 Boost

This is not any surprise, the same thing has been happening with pilots for years. Way too much reliance on automates have purged a lot of good airmanship from modern day pilots. How could one expect anything different with the average lazy driver.

TheSteve - 2/23/2018 7:06:38 PM

+3 Boost

Often, yes. But not always. For example, if you drive your ABS-equipped vehicle as though you didn't have ABS, then it gives you an additional margin of safety. On the other hand, if you drive faster, closer to the car in front, or without snow tires in the snow, then you've erased the potential benefits that safety feature has to offer.

MDarringer - 2/24/2018 8:49:29 AM

-1 Boost

Given that people are so addicted to their phones that they cannot be bothered to raise their children properly, it follows that they are too addicted to drive properly. I say give them all Teslas with Autokill and let the technology kill them.

TomM - 2/25/2018 11:34:07 AM

+2 Boost

There will always be two sides to that issue.

There are those who buy cars as transportation appliances - and they will gladly let the car do as much as possible to protect them. Some of the things are good - some not so much. Anything that literally requires you to take you eye off the road - is a Hazard.

ANd then there the drivers who ENJOY cars or Beyond - who turn most of that stuff OFF when they can. Most of the people here at least aspire to that - and those new autonomous features are greeted like a twist off cap on a beer.

PUGPROUD - 2/25/2018 6:35:27 PM

+1 Boost

Use it or loose it...its called evolution.

focal - 2/26/2018 11:23:37 AM

+1 Boost

I used to remember everyone's phone number. Can barely remember my home number now.