11-Jul-2025
Driving assistance systems could backfire
University of Texas at AustinPeer-Reviewed Publication
In recent years, every new car driver has been getting used to bells and beeps. As automakers try to make cars safer, they’ve introduced increasingly sophisticated driving assistance systems, to warn a driver when they’re drifting out of their lane or someone’s in their blind spot. But do these features actually improve safety? New research from Ashish Agarwal, associate professor of information, risk, and operations management at Texas McCombs, says not always. By considering how human beings react to different kinds of warning signals, he suggests, automakers could better reduce risky driving behaviors.
“When they’re designing these features, they have to be aware that in some cases, they may make behaviors worse,” Agarwal says.
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