Emerging Vehicle Technologies

by Courtney Conley

My first car was a hand-me-down 1997 Saturn. General Motors stopped making the Saturn back in 2009 but, for me, it was a good little car. In the winter, I would pop my cassette adapter into the tape deck, connect it to my MP3 player, and wait for what felt like forever until my car warmed up. These days, I open an app on my phone and with the tap of a button, my car warms up before I even step outside. My phone connects to my car’s Bluetooth automatically without all the tangled wires of the past. Emerging vehicle technologies are constantly making our lives easier and changing the game-so much so that it’s hard to keep up!

Now, it’s odd to think that most cars didn’t even come with seat belts until the 60s. Vehicles have come so far in a relatively short amount of time, and emerging technologies aren’t slowing down any time soon. From technology that automates driving, to charging your electric car just by driving on the roadway, one thing’s for sure: it’s an exciting time to be a driver.

Autonomous vehicles, often referred to as "self-driving" cars, are probably the most highly-anticipated emerging vehicle technology today. As of right now, there aren’t any fully automated vehicles available for sale, and fully automated vehicles are limited to testing and research purposes only. Automated vehicles are still a thing of the future, and it’s unclear if or when the technology will be available for everyone.

For now, drivers are still essential to the driving task. Most collisions are caused by human error and inattention. Even though our vehicles aren’t automated, many vehicles today have features that assist drivers on the road.

Lane Departure Warning

Have you ever spaced out a little on the highway, only to be startled by the vibration of rumble strips as your vehicle drifts out of your lane? Lane departure warnings alert the driver when they detect the vehicle straying from its lane without using a turn signal. This is your heads-up that you need to stay in your lane.

Lane Keeping Assistance

Unlike lane departure warnings, lane keeping assistance will actually automatically put gentle pressure on the steering wheel, keeping you in your lane when it detects you drifting.

Forward Collision Warning

A forward collision warning system sends an alert to the driver when they’re in danger of a collision ahead. This is a helpful feature, but only if the driver heeds the warning and makes adjustments to avoid the collision.

Blind Spot Warning

Blind spot warnings are incredibly helpful when it comes to keeping your attention in the right places. While you should visually check your blind spots, a blind spot warning system will give an audio and/or visual alert when there’s a vehicle you may not have noticed in your blind spot.

Adaptive Cruise Control

It wasn’t so long ago that cruise control was a new technology. Cruise control is great for making sure you keep a consistent speed on long stretches of road, and adaptive cruise control takes it one step forward. This system automatically adjusts your speed to make sure you’re not too close to the vehicle in front of you. Now you don’t have to push down on the brake to slow down, get back up to speed, then set your cruise control again when there’s a slower vehicle ahead.

Automatic High Beams

It’s a terrible experience when you’re driving in the dark and the vehicle approaching you forgets to turn off their high beams as they pass you. This isn’t a problem anymore if your vehicle has automatic high beams. When an oncoming vehicle approaches you at night, this system will automatically switch between your high beams and low beams as needed.

Pedestrian Detection and Automatic Braking

More than 6,700 pedestrians were killed in collisions in 2020. Vehicles with pedestrian detection and automatic braking help keep pedestrians safe by detecting when a pedestrian is in front of the vehicle and automatically applying the brakes to avoid a collision.

Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging

This is another technology that’s not ready for us yet, but it’s promising for the future of electric vehicles. The Indiana Department of Transportation is partnering with Purdue University to develop a new contactless wireless-charging stretch of concrete pavement on the highway. With the goal to reduce emissions and pollutants from vehicles, this technology will allow for drivers of electric vehicles to charge up just by driving on special parts of the roadway. Pretty cool!

Watching emerging vehicle technologies become available for the public is exciting, especially when that technology is working to help keep everyone safe. Just remember that technology can’t replace the driver (yet). Even with all of the driver assistance technology available today, it’s up to the driver to stay alert and do everything they can in order to avoid collisions.

If you want to learn more about safe driving, or if you want to keep points off your driver record, take a look at our online courses! Click here to visit our website to see the online courses we offer in your state! You may even be able to get a discount on your insurance by taking one of our courses.

My first car was a hand-me-down 1997 Saturn. General Motors stopped making the Saturn back in 2009 but, for me, it was a good little car. In the winter, I would pop my cassette adapter into the tape deck, connect it to my MP3 player, and wait for what felt like forever until my car warmed up. These days, I open an app on my phone and with the tap of a button, my car warms up before I even step outside. My phone connects to my car’s Bluetooth automatically without all the tangled wires of the past. Emerging vehicle technologies are constantly making our lives easier and changing the game-so much so that it’s hard to keep up!

Categories: Driver Education, Trip Planning