Drivers reluctant to pay for advanced safety tech: What Car?

Around half of car drivers would be happy to buy a new car without Advanced Driver Safety Systems (ADAS) if it meant paying less, according to car buying platform What Car?

ADAS technologies help avoid collisions, but more than a third (35%) of people surveyed by What Car? admitted to switching them off at some point, with blind spot warning and collision avoidance technologies revealed as the most annoying. 

ADAS is now essential for a car to achieve a high Euro NCAP safety rating, irrespective of the car’s structural safety and ability to protect occupants in the event of a crash. For example, the Dacia Jogger was awarded an overall safety rating of one star (out of five) due to its lack of ADAS systems, despite scoring four stars for adult occupant protection.

The survey of 7,125 car owners found that while 58% of drivers with ADAS systems said they feel safer as a result, although only 34% said that they would rule out buying a car if it wasn’t fitted with certain ADAS features and nearly half (47%) would be happy to buy a new model without them entirely if it meant paying less. That figure rose to 66% among drivers who don’t currently have ADAS technologies fitted to their vehicle. 

The survey also found that 42% of participants had ADAS technologies fitted to their cars. A similar percentage of respondents had no such systems, while 17% did not know if their car was equipped with ADAS features.

 What Car? editor Steve Huntingford, said: “While most drivers feel safer with advanced driver assistance technologies in their cars, a significant proportion have switched them off at some point, suggesting these systems often aren’t as user friendly or intuitive as motorists would like.

“With ADAS due to become mandatory in new cars from July 2024, it will be all the more important that safety bodies like Euro NCAP not only make it clear to car buyer’s how effective each manufacturer’s ADAS tech is, but also whether or not it’s frustrating to use.”