Does modern tech in cars keep us from crashing

I had a friend make a car related point to me the other day. He said new cars are obviously safer, which is indicated by the overall lowering rates of deaths per miles driven over the last few decades, but he contends that as cars are becoming more safe and aware we are becoming less aware at a similar rate. He believes that because of this accidents arent actually down, we just die less when we get into one.

Anecdotally Ive seen this. I know many people that as they've got into newer cars with blind spot monitoring, radar cruise, lane keep assist, etc etc etc, they have paid less and less attention and spent more time texting or just generally being completely unaware of whats happening around them, and instead relying almost completely on the car. I couldnt find data for accidents only fatalities.

What does the hive think about this?

Body shops prove everyone is still crashing.

During the pandemic, in the US, while miles driven went down, fatalities rose to their highest level in a decade. In the EU, miles driven went down and so did fatalities. While we survive more crashes due to better vehicles and road engineering, we still die at about 35000 or more per year. We have an acceptable level of death in this country. Unless the one death is someone you know. If you want more info check out www.AAAfoundation.org. 

Cars have gotten safer, drivers have not.  I'd wager the average driver today is less proficient and therefore less safe than drivers of 20 years ago (pre smartphone).

Crashes have gotten better and more efficient.

It is very difficult to find information on crashes vs. deaths. The NHTSA counts total crashes each year but doesn't put together trends from year to year. I found this graph of a few years' results put together by a law firm though, and it looks like your friend is right:

Found a slightly longer-term graph:

From here:

https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R44394.pdf

That's old data. Pre pandemic. You have to dig but you can find the info. I think it's FARS (fatality analysis reporting system).

Here's the link.FARS

In reply to GameboyRMH :

Looks like a short time period but crashes seem pretty flat

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

All I could find on FARS is fatality info. Not talking about that, just crashes

I remember reading once that the widespread introduction of ABS did not really change the rate of crashes, but that for stability control it did.

I know I can find the data with a little search time and effort, I'll look some tomorrow when I'm on an actual computer and not my phone.

The effect of the pandemic on driving was huge. Basically, traffic went away and enforcement of traffic laws dried up, so a lot of stupid stuff happened. So the data for at least the early time period is skewed massively.

That aside, for every inch AEB and blind spot detection has bought us, we gobble it back with people berkeleying with their cell phones while driving texting, snapchatting, tiktoking, and face timing. 

Before the pandemic I rode a commuter bus to and from work, which left me at.a good vantage point to see if people were screwing around with their cell phone while driving. The number of people doing it was shocking.  I see at 20+ in the last few miles alone, I used to make a game of counting. 

Do some searching here and you will find the data you are looking for.

https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/#!/

I agree. On my new Jeep I count something around 80 individual buttons and controls for me to modify my driving environment. Sight lines and 360° visibility have been sacrificed in the interests of esthetics, and B and A pillars are fat enough to hide a person on a crosswalk because they want to put airbags in them, and anyway there is radar to let you know. Mirrors are reduced to a bare minimum because we have cameras. Not sure I feel safer and more aware than I did in my 1970 F100 with roll up windows and maybe 10 controls in total I could reach from my seat. Mostly I feel like I am driving a video game. 

bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) said:

Mirrors are reduced to a bare minimum because we have cameras.

I'm going to have to disagree on the mirror front.  We own six vehicles, a 2021, two 2016s, a 2004, a '99, and a '93.  The side mirrors on the two 2016s are HUGE compared to the ones on the the earlier cars, like at least twice the area.  (I'm leaving the 2021 out because it's a truck with a towing package, so that throws off the comparison).

A and B pillars are fatter not just because of airbags but also improved strength requirements.  Belt lines are higher because of side impact crash standards.  From what I can tell, the one visibility problem that's primarily driven by styling and aesthetics is the stupid rear visibility on "crossover" SUVs with teeny tiny windows between the C and D pillars.  That said, a decent backup camera offers better rear visibility than was possible even in a sedan from the 80s and 90s.

Drivers have not improved in terms of car safety. The ordinary motorist today is probably less skilled and safe than they were 20 years ago (pre smartphone).

From the data I have in my possession accident rates are rising, just at a very slow rate.  It's not at the rate where you'd say "I see so many more accidents than I did 3 years ago", it's incremental.  The reasons behind it are many, and very debatable.

Ranger50 said:

Body shops prove everyone is still crashing.

I saw more crashes on a 5 mile section of straight, sunny day Tennessee interstate than in 50 miles of snowstorm driving in Kentucky.

Like, bumper to bumper traffic and I saw a Prius get punted hard 30 feet into the median.  Traffic is stopped and a guy in a truck is on an onramp accelerating hard enough you could see his suspension squat when the trans upshifted.

People are friggin' dumbasses and I think the further you are from bad weather, the less aware a driver you are.  Locally I saw someone with Florida plates change lanes three times, each time the lane change was done as square as possible, two sharp jerks, the car leaning hard in both directions.

So.... yes, I can also see how driver aids can make a driver more dumbass.

From my seat as a claim adjuster:

Cars are safer now, just in time to save all the nimrods staring at their phones as they drive.

The problem with many nanny aids is people believe they replace responsibility. I can't tell you how many people I've had back their car into something because "the sensor didn't beep". And we're talking objects that would be easily visible in a mirror or camera screen. 

In reply to ddavidv :

I don't see that as shifting responsibility, I see it as admitting fault.  "I backed into it because I wasn't looking"

OTOH I speak from a position of just some guy on the Internet, not a position of authority in a financial or legal sense.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

yah hes saying they BELIEVE it replaces responsibility.

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) said:

Mirrors are reduced to a bare minimum because we have cameras.

I'm going to have to disagree on the mirror front.  We own six vehicles, a 2021, two 2016s, a 2004, a '99, and a '93.  The side mirrors on the two 2016s are HUGE compared to the ones on the the earlier cars, like at least twice the area.

After spending the last few years almost exclusively driving 2014+ vehicles, some friends and I bought an '05 Subaru to rallycross. Basically my first observation driving it was "man, these side mirrors are tiny".

I bet majority of the cars on the road do not have this tech that y'all love to hate. People are just inattentive and irresponsible as we've always been. 

In my personal experience, these nannies make me a safer driver. But that's just me. 

Opti said:

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

yah hes saying they BELIEVE it replaces responsibility.

 

I believed I was gonna miss when I shot at that guy, Your Honor

In reply to yupididit :

I bought my wife a new car a month or two ago, a few of the things we drove had stuff like super cruise and auto pilot. Pretty much everything we drove had lane keep assist, advanced cruise, back up camera, blind sport monitoring, and navigation.

Im pretty sure if you put a headlight in a new crv you have to reprogram ADAS. Its in pretty much everything now.