Complex technologies have become a more commonplace feature in the cars we drive. Compared with vehicles from even 25 years ago, modern vehicles are practically jam-packed with systems and features which aim to make driving safer and more convenient.
But has all of this technology come at the expense of driving skill? Well, we’re going to take a look through some of the driving mannerisms that have faded away as a result of the technology in our cars.
Hand on the passenger headrest
The ‘hand on the passenger headrest’ is a classic mannerism that you’ll have probably seen used or conducted yourself. It’s a way of making reversing a little easier and gives you a more stable platform when you’re parking or moving the car around.
However, with the widespread installation of reversing cameras in new cars - along with the variety of sensors and guidelines - this could be a mannerism which is becoming a thing of the past. Some cars can even park themselves, reducing the need for the hand on the passenger seat headrest entirely.
Keeping a car going in a straight line
This might sound ludicrous, but with the onset of lane-keeping technology, it’s getting easier for drivers to leave a car to its own devices when it comes to steering. While we’re still some way off fully autonomous cars, a lot of modern vehicles come with lane-keep assistance which can ‘guide’ you back to dead-centre if it detects you veering off-course.
It’s another feature which has been introduced to boost safety but is also likely behind a reduction in people maintaining a higher level of concentration.
Adjusting your wing mirrors
Adjusting the wing mirrors is something people do every day to ensure that you’ve got a clear view of the road behind. However, the creation of digital mirrors means that this may be something of the past.
While these digital cameras can be adjusted slightly, they’ve been created to relay a clear view of the area behind without needing much tweaking - making adjusting your wing mirrors a distant memory.
Changing your high beams
When driving at night time, it’s often an advantage to be able to switch to high beams in order to extend your field of vision. It’s a feature which has been included on many, many cars and it’s something that drivers use every day - particularly during winter.
But the creation of adaptive headlights and automatic high beams might have rendered this process into the history books. The system means you don’t need to adjust anything manually as the car will do it all for you.
Looking for traffic to move ahead
It seems as though modern car features are taking away the need to do a lot of the simplest tasks. In fact, some of the latest cars incorporate a ‘car in front moving away’ alert, which will bong at you should the vehicle in front start to drive away when you’re in a queue.
Sure, you’d think that you need to be concentrating on the road ahead anyway, but this feature means drivers aren’t even required to look ahead of them when stationary.
