Buying & Importing Cars · Car Care & Maintenance · Featured Articles · Technology
What Do Drivers Really Want In Their Cars?
We are living in a very advanced technology age. There are so many fancy gadgets, and very many functional gadgets that are being produced daily for our cars. It is hard for a manufacturer to figure out what drivers want in their cars. Drivers want simplicity and of course, they want to find every important thing just where it should be. However, today’s car, if the dashboard is anything to go by, is a quagmire of features, lights, dials and knobs. They are so many such that one is always confused and wonders whether they are really necessary. However, we agree that they do make for a fancy dashboard.
This is a Ford dashboard
Image source: blogs.msdn.com
Voice activated system
In many countries today, it is against the law to have your hands on your cellphone when you are driving. In that case, many drivers want voice activated systems for the car ensure that the drivers hands don’t leave the steering wheels and that their eyes stay on the road. For example, suppose you had a voice-activated system that could select your radio station for you, rather than having you fiddling with the knobs and volumes. That would be cool.
Lane departure warning
Lane departure warning has become a darling for many drivers today, yet many vehicles do not have this. It is great for safe driving and a great protection against side crashes, that is, the ones caused by you. Almost 70% of drivers say they would feel safer if they had a system that warned them when they strayed out of their lane.
An illustration of how a lane departure warning system works
Image source: www.kia.com
Parking
Parking technology is a must-have in the future cars. Every driver would love this to assist them park, even in the most squeezed places. A driver wants their car to find the parking space and calculate the distance from foreign objects for safe parking and for assurance that they will get their car in without nipping the other cars. Assisted parking can also help the driver find more parking spaces as opposed to using one’s eyes to gauge whether a certain space would fit one’s car.
Car stability control
Vehicle stability control is one of the most advanced technologies that ensure safe driving. This one brings the vehicle back in line if it strays, therefore minimizing the risks of the driver side crashing. This system is very helpful when taking a bend, or a sharp corner. Most drivers would underestimate a bend especially when they are driving on a road they are not familiar with.
Reverse monitoring
Reverse monitoring is becoming a very common feature for many vehicles today. This ensures that you do not crash into a parked vehicle and that you get out of squeezed places easily. There is no better assist for a driver to back out safely.
This is a parking assist system at work
Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_Parking_Assist_System
Drowsy driver warning
And here is the winner …. Trust drivers to know what they want! A drowsy driver warning system. However, for this, we would like it even better if it could alert the cops when you drift off in your car on the highway. That way, the cops would stop you in time, and force you to have a couple hours of rest before continuing with your journey.
Which of these features/systems would you love best in your car?
