A SURVEY of more than 1,000 Australian car owners by insurance provider Budget Direct found three-quarters of respondents (75%) believe that car technology can be distracting.
The most distracting car technologies included touchscreens, hands-free mobile phones and speech-to-text systems.
Of bigger concern is that over 1 in 10 (16%) reported having either an accident or a close call due to these technological distractions.
The survey also showed that not all Aussie drivers are ready for the hands-free driving revolution just yet. Two in five (41%) remain skeptical about fully trusting automatic systems like lane correction or pedestrian protection.
Budget Direct’s Chief Growth Officer, Jonathan Kerr, said new, advanced technologies are becoming more available in mid-and lower-range cars.
“Once luxury features like adaptive cruise control and massaging seats are now enjoyed by increasing numbers of Aussies,” he said.
The public’s fear of car technology changes, however, when Australians think about technological features that make cars safer.
“Innovative safety features such as automatic braking and blind spot warnings are more often becoming standard.
“The number of cars in Australia has nearly doubled in the last 30 years. Busier roads could be one factor explaining why the latest safety and driver assistance technology are high priority,” Mr Kerr said.
It seems drivers agree with nearly two-thirds (64%) saying the latest safety and driver assistance tech is either very or extremely important to them.
The top five must-haves are rearview cameras and/or parking sensors (68%), blind-spot warning systems (61%), collision warning and avoidance systems (49%), auto emergency braking (46%) and lane departure warning and correction systems (38%).
“Interestingly, attitudes across different segments differed quite a lot,” Mr Kerr said.
“Perhaps because it is more familiar to them, it was our younger car owners who emphasized safety tech. Nearly three-quarters (71%) of Gen Y or younger told us it was important compared to 63% of Gen X and 58% of Baby Boomers.”
It was a similar story when it came to the convenience and entertainment side of car ownership. Exactly half of Gen Y or younger said it was important versus 40% of Gen X and just 28% of Baby Boomers.
When it came to gender differences more men (45%) than women (37%) rated the latest convenience and entertainment tech as must-haves.
Female car owners were more cautious about technology both in terms of trust and as a distraction. A little over half (53%) of women were prepared to fully trust their safety tech compared to nearly two-thirds (65%) of men. It was a similar story with the issue of distraction; 79% of women thought it was a problem but 70% of men thought so.