Safety should not be an option, but paying attention when you’re driving is.
That’s the message I’m picking up from Australia’s leading crash testing authority, ANCAP, and its latest report into the Kia K4.
You see, the new sedan was recently tested and returned a maximum five-star result for the majority of the range, but the entry-level K4 S without the optional Safety Pack only receives a four-star rating.
So what piece of critically important technology is it missing? That would be its autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system isn’t able to detect or react in T-bone intersection crossing scenarios. Translation, the K4 S will not stop if you decide to drive into an intersection without looking.
Seriously, that’s what this system does – it protects people who do not pay attention or take care on the roads. While I applaud ANCAP for the work it has done in the past on crash safety and while I understand the role it has in holding car makers to account, this is getting to the point of becoming self-defeating.
New cars are safer than they’ve ever been before, in terms of both the physical crash structure and the growing list of acronyms like AEB, LKA, LDW, RCTA and so on. The problem is the weighting ANCAP is giving to these active safety systems is becoming disproportionate to their effectiveness.
While AEB is a helpful feature most of the time, the last minor accident I had was actually caused by the AEB system overriding my efforts to brake carefully in bumper-to-bumper traffic and having someone run up the back of me. Literally, I had my foot on the accelerator, trying to avoid an accident but the car refused to respond because the AEB had kicked in against my will.
These systems are a work-in-progress and currently car makers are credited full marks for having them, without any real-world or test lab assessment by ANCAP. Which means, as one car executive recently put it, these systems can be “shit” and not properly tuned for real-world conditions.
A system like AEB that can react in ‘T-bone intersection crossing scenarios’ is frankly a very high level of technology and one that should be mandated to receive a five-star rating, in my opinion. In part because, to be blunt, where the heck are you looking when you cross an intersection if not out the windows?
Call me crazy, but I strongly believe that the person behind the wheel of any motor vehicle should be giving 100 per cent of their attention to driving and their surroundings every single time they drive.
All this smart safety is making us dumb. Of course we want less accidents, but the over-reliance on technology will only breed a generation of lazy, careless drivers who rely on these systems.
ANCAP itself admitted the K4 is a fundamentally safe car to be involved in a crash with, stating: “The K4 demonstrated sound crash protection across the range of physical crash tests. In assessment of its ‘aggressivity’ – or the risk it poses to other vehicles in a crash – the K4 also scored very well, demonstrating a relatively low risk to collision partners.”
And yet, because the driver is now required to pay more attention, it only gets a four-star rating and ANCAP says Kia should be adding the extra safety hardware needed for the system free-of-charge.
“Our message for Kia is to provide the same standard level of safety across the model range. Consumers should not have to pay extra for safety, nor should they have to compromise on safety when buying to a budget,” said ANCAP CEO, Carla Hoorweg.
Sure, it would be great if car makers could give us every single safety item included in the car for no extra cost, but sadly this is the real-world and car makers exist to make money. Also, it’s worth noting here, that ANCAP doesn’t pay to develop these systems, these are all created by car companies and their partners, using their own money.
We, as consumers, are free to spend our money on the cars and the safety equipment we deem appropriate for our needs and budget. Personally, I would most definitely not pay more for a safety system like ‘T-bone intersection assistance’ or whatever it’s called by various car makers. I believe it’s my responsibility to both myself and my fellow road users to pay attention – and I would hope every other person on the road feels the same way, regardless of what safety systems their car may or may not have.
What do you think: Is all the modern safety technology in cars making us dumb, lazy drivers?
Editor-at-large
Stephen Ottley is an award-winning journalist who has written about cars and motor racing for all of Australia’s leading publications.
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