We can’t deny progress
There are some individuals, myself included at times, who believe that the interior of the modern car more closely resembles the cockpit of a jet airliner than cars such as my mom’s 1978 AMC Concord, in which I took my first driving lessons many years ago.
Let’s face it, while the outward appearance of the vehicle hasn’t reallychanged all that much in the last quarter-century – if not longer– the technology underneath the sheet metal and inside the interior ofthe vehicle has changed substantially during that time.
It is now quite commonplace, even in modestly-priced vehicles, to find an array of buttons, controls, lights and screens that would have been completely foreign to most vehicle owners even five years ago.
So what is happening to the interiors of vehicles and what is driving this change? To be sure, convenience and the desire of consumers for similarcreature comforts in their vehicles that they enjoy at home or at the officeare part of what’s behind the transformation of vehicle interiors.
Features galore
For instance, who knew that having the ability to sync your cellphone toyour vehicle’s audio system through something called a Bluetooth connection,to enable it to be operated “hands-free,” would be as important afeature as it is today, with all of the legal restrictions around driving whiletalking on the phone? Who had even heard of Bluetooth 10 years ago?
Likewise the ubiquity of the iPod has prompted some manufacturersto install specially-designed cradles, in addition to audio jacks andwiring harnesses, so that one never has to be anywhere without their favourite compilation of tunes.
For many the concept of a paper map has become an anachronism in the face of navigation systems that provide both visual representations of where you are as well as providing audio step-by-step instructions of how to get towhere you’d like to go, often allowing you to choose not only the language,but the particular accent you’d like to have from the system providing you with the verbal instructions.
With the renewed focus on fuel efficiency in vehicles, many manufacturersare also incorporating indicator lights that itell you when youshould be shifting your manual transmission for optimal fuel economy or, conversely, provide you with a series of buttons to select whether you wish to drive your vehicle with automatic transmission for performance oreconomy. Display screens are routinely available now showing you your real-time fuel economy as well as calculating the amount of fuel consumed over the course of your journey.
Added to many of these nice-to-have features in the vehicle interiorare instrument-panel lights and signals as well as verbal and in some casestactile features that are increasingly finding their way into the modern vehicleas a means of improving vehicle safety. Warning lights are activated,for example, when electronic stability control on your vehicle is employed to assist in preventing you from losing control of the vehicle.
Likewise there are various lights, displays and audio warnings for things like lane-departure warning, blind-spot detection, forward collision warning and auto braking, pedestrian and fixed-barrier radar and back-up cameras, to name but a few of the safety systems and technologies being built into modern vehicles. Collectively they protect both the driver and the occupants sharing the vehicle, as well as pedestriansand those in other vehicles.
Distractions?
Regrettably, some see these advances in vehicle interiors, including some of the safety technologies, as unnecessary distractions to the task of driving, essentially equating them to texting while behind the wheel. In fairness, let’s be honest, anything can be a distraction to the task of driving: from eating, to looking at a map, to disciplining the kids inthe back seat. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) in the U.S. notes that a two-second glance away from the road for any purpose increases the near crash/crash risk by more than two times the normal baseline for driving.
So this underscores the importance of keeping our eyes, hands andminds focused on the task of driving. Controversially, perhaps, I would arguethat the purpose of some of these new safety features being built into today’s vehicles is actually to momentarily distract us, to cause us to take notice of the fact that we are drifting over the centre-line while driving home tired late at night or that there is another vehicle or a pedestrian in our blind spot, or that we are on a slippery road and the vehicle is undertaking countermeasures automatically to help you maintain control. All ofthese things are good and, in my view should be welcomed.
Safer than ever
I think the proof is in the pudding as well. If you look at the most recent road safety statistics from Transport Canada, released this pas t January for 2008, they revealed 12-percent fewer deaths than in the previous year, making 2008 the year with the lowest number of deathson Canadian roads in almost 60 years.
A substantial part of this significant reduction in on-road deaths can likely be attributed to the fitment of vehicles with some of these advanced safety technologies. So let’s not get distracted from the significant benefits that accrue to drivers from the technology currently being installed in today’s vehicles.
