The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has released the first major study on the effectiveness of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).
While a decade ago, we began seeing the first fully functional touch-screen entertainment and navigation systems in new vehicles, the last five years have witnessed an increasing number of driver assistance devices, such as backup cameras, parallel parking systems, and crash-avoidance technology.
“As these technologies become more available to motorists, they have the potential to reduce rates of crashes, injuries and deaths on our roadways,” the Foundation states in releasing the report. “However, that potential will not be realized fully unless consumers accept these technologies, understand how to use them, use them as intended, and avoid misusing or becoming overreliant on them.”
That’s a tall order.
Such technology has played a role in an increasing number of injury and wrongful death claims. And, with driverless vehicles just over the horizon, such claims are likely to be further complicated by advancing technology for decades to come. Some future cases will undoubtedly involve defective-product litigation. However, in many cases it will be up to your injury lawyer to prove an at-fault driver used safety technology inappropriately, or relied upon it to an unreasonable degree.
