Sometimes we here at Jalopnik worry about drivers becoming too dependent on the high-tech features in their cars to do the thinking and driving for them. There is a AAA study that suggests those fears aren’t unfounded. But as a car enthusiast, if you have daily access to such high-end safety features, how much do you trust the technology?
I recently drove the Genesis GV80, which is crammed with slick cameras that give you an eagle-eye view of all sides of the vehicle. I also got to experience the company’s Blind Spot Monitor, which streams the driver’s blind spot in crisp detail right there in the instrument cluster.
Logically, these cameras are as good as turning your head and looking, but I still don’t trust them. I can’t be 1,000 percent sure there isn’t a car there unless I look. Even the simple back-up camera, which has been around for years and I have on my own car, I find extremely suspect.
I will turn half my body to look at my blind spot forever. No camera is going to reassure me enough not to look, and even if it could, looking before changing lanes is as natural and automatic as shoe-tying at this point. I will be craning my neck to check the blind spot even if cars become fully self-driving in a few decades. I don’t trust the cameras and I won’t trust the damn computers either.
What about you? Right now, America’s fleet is pretty old. One in four of you are driving cars at least 16 years old, so this might not be as widespread a problem as I assume. Have you found yourself lulled into complacency by our robot overlords, or are you using your human eyes connected to your meat brain to drive and allowing the cameras to play a role as a backup?
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