Over 90 thousand - so many traffic accidents have occurred in Lithuania in the last 20 years. Although accidents are gradually decreasing every year, experts admit that the progress is not as fast as they would like. Analyzing accident statistics in the country, Raimondas Bieliauskas, the head of the vehicle claims administration department of the insurance company ERGO, also sees a certain paradox: if in most cases the ever-improving car technologies ensure greater safety for people, then sometimes they can also become the cause of accidents.
According to the data of the Lithuanian Road Police Service, in 2020 just over 3,400 accidents in which people were killed or injured were recorded. For comparison, in 2019 there were more than 3,900 traffic accidents, in 2018 – more than 3500 cases. The most common cause of accidents is not choosing a safe speed.
"In recent years, another trend has been noticed, that while the number of people killed in accidents is decreasing, the number of injured is still increasing slightly. Such numbers really make you wonder what the reasons are. After all, manufacturers are constantly improving cars, installing the most advanced technologies in them, which should help protect people's health and lives in the event of an accident on the road," R. Bieliauskas thinks.
Innovations abound in the modern car, but the insurance expert points out that not all of them are intended to increase safety. And, for example, when manufacturers aim to ensure greater comfort with the help of smart solutions, according to R. Bieliauskas, sometimes they can also have a negative effect.
"Advanced safety airbags, emergency braking, blind spot vision, lane keeping and other similar functions help reduce the risk of accidents or their consequences. It is not for nothing that some of these solutions are already installed as standard in new cars. However, the new models also have a lot of additional functions just to make driving easier, to provide more comfort, which can distract drivers and lead to accidents", assures the ERGO representative.
As an example, R. Bieliauskas presents advanced autopilot systems that are already able to scan the environment, automatically keep a distance to other vehicles or obstacles, fix road signs and select the car's speed accordingly.
"Such a car can often even drive itself and thus encourage drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel, although the manufacturers forbid it. And let's face it, it sounds really tempting during long and tiring trips. But at the same time, this is a serious problem, because similar digitized assistants can make it easier to lose concentration, if necessary, not to be able to react to surprises on the road and, ultimately, to get into a traffic accident," R. Bieliauskas is convinced.
Therefore, the insurer's representative urges drivers to first carefully, but safely, analyze the offered vehicle functions and understand how they work and what opportunities they offer. If necessary, both car dealers and driving instructors can help with this. And later, after understanding the intricacies of technology, according to R. Bieliauskas, it is possible to allow them to help drive safer and more comfortably.
"No matter how advanced a car is, first of all, it is important to remember that it is not driven by technology, but by a person. Therefore, innovations should not completely take over the control of driving, but only help to make trips even safer and more comfortable. The primary responsibility for decisions behind the wheel continues to rest with the driver. It hasn't changed for more than a hundred years - since the creation of the first car," says the interviewer.
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