Many cars with smart tech come with sensors or even rear cameras that are designed to help you with parking. Using the screen, you can view how close you are to the curb or to the parking spot to reduce the risk of collision and improve the accuracy of your parking. This can be a great confidence booster for those who find parking tricky.
One of the key features of most cars with smart tech is a built-in navigation system. Simply enter your destination address or postcode using your car's touchscreen before you set off, like you would on a typical sat nav, and you are ready to go.
The map is then clearly visible at all times and directions come through via the car's speaker system. This can save money on sat navs as well as eliminate the worries that come with using your phone for navigation, such as the battery running out, losing internet connection or getting distracted by messages.
Smart tech often involves integration with your mobile phone, meaning that you can receive calls through your car and operate other functionalities of your phone without touching it. It's illegal to have a phone in your hand while driving, so using smart tech in your car to answer important phone calls or swap songs avoids the potential for fines and makes the entire process far safer.
Of course, with all of the aforementioned comes the potential for distraction. Using a phone while driving is illegal for a reason – it shifts your focus away from the road and decreases your reaction time. Even if your car's smart tech means you can answer calls hands-free, you need to maintain full focus on the road and it can be difficult to do this with so many features available. With the option to operate a screen, it can be tempting to fiddle with the settings, stare at the map or constantly change the radio station instead of concentrating on driving.
Young drivers especially are more likely to have modern cars and be confident operating technology, and this, combined with their higher accident rate due to lower experience on the road, could be a potential recipe for disaster. In fact, as reported in this safety guide for young drivers, more than half of 17-24 year-old-drivers admitted to having sent a text whilst being behind the wheel.
Another potential con is that having smart features in a car can drive up its price tag because it uses more advanced technology and more hardware. Some drivers may be better off buying an older car for less instead of forking out for smart tech that they will not find useful.
We hope you have found these thoughts on Smart Tech in the car helpful. Please help us by sharing this guide with others. There is a good chance that if you found it useful, so will they.
If you have a driving test coming up soon you might find our Ultimate Guide to Driving Test Nerves useful.
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Confident drivers has been a really useful tool in changing my attitude to the driving test. I hadn't recognised just how much my negative thoughts about my ability rather than my actual driving ability have been holding me back and putting me off. I particularly liked the quick fix section that gives you strategies to calm down just before the test!
If you would like some self-help stress management resources to help you tackle your driving anxiety and improve driving confidence then our calming kit is created by leading industry experts especially for you. Access to all the resources is online.
These plans are created specifically for drivers and learner drivers looking for online solutions to manage driving nerves and anxiety. We also have a range of group plans created for driving instructors who would like to offer support offroad to their learner drivers, you can find more details on our ADI page.
We created this podcast for drivers who want to be calm and confident on the road. Whether you are a learner driver, a new driver or have been driving for years, this podcast will help you to beat driving nerves and anxiety and build your driving confidence.
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