Qld drivers switching off potentially life-saving car tech
The Club’s 2026 Annual Road Safety Survey results found 35% of drivers switched off lane departure warnings, 34% did not use adaptive cruise control and 22% disabled autonomous emergency braking.
RACQ Executive Manager Road Safety Joshua Cooney said Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) were designed to reduce the chance of human error leading to a crash.
“It’s concerning motorists are turning safety features off, when they have been designed to help make our roads safer,” Mr Cooney said.
Drivers said they turned the systems off because alerts were too sensitive or too frequent, they preferred to stay in control, or they worried about becoming too reliant on technology.
“ADAS is not there to take over – it’s there to help you stay safe,” he said.
“Vehicle technology is constantly evolving and while some alerts may feel too sensitive or frequent, these systems are continuing to improve.
“We want Queenslanders to understand how the technology works and use it to their advantage, rather than switching it off.”
Research from Insurance Australia Group (IAG) showed one in five road casualties could potentially be prevented with full use of ADAS technology.
Of the around 40,000 annual road fatalities and hospitalisations in Australia, the research found 7,850 could potentially have been avoided through full ADAS use.
The research found these systems could reduce sideswipe collisions by up to 40%, head-on collisions by up to 21% and lane change collisions by up to 15%.
“It’s terribly concerning that we have one person dying on our roads in Queensland nearly every day. We need to be doing everything we can to be better drivers for ourselves and each other,” Mr Cooney said.
“Helping drivers understand and trust these safety systems is crucial to reducing the number of deaths each year and making Queensland roads safer.”
Queensland is on track to exceed 300 road deaths for the third year running.
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