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# Insurance giant wants teach drivers to trust car safety tech
- URL: https://torquecafe.com/car-news-adas-switch-off-data-racq-australia/
- Published: 2026-11-05T23:29:32.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-05T23:29:32.000Z
- Description: Greater education on how advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) function will lead to less people turning off the technology, according to RACQ.
- Author: Jordan Mulach
- Tags: News, Industry

New cars are being fitted with more active safety features than ever before, with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) becoming critical to protecting occupants and other road users.

From autonomous emergency braking, lane-keep assist and blind-spot monitoring, these systems are designed with the aim of reducing the number or at least the severity of crashes – but not everyone is keeping them on.

Queensland insurance giant RACQ has released the results of its 2026 Annual Road Safety Survey, which has shown the rate at which its members are switching off certain ADAS functions.

According to RACQ, 35 per cent of drivers surveyed switched off lane departure warnings, 34 per cent did not use adaptive cruise control, and 22 per cent disabled autonomous emergency braking where fitted to their cars.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/a9/b3/a9b3e204-3117-4792-9a32-46184029df44/content/images/2026/11/ford-f-150-ancap.jpg)

As the state looks to surpass 300 annual road fatalities for the third consecutive year, RACQ executive manager for road safety Joshua Cooney proposed education is needed for motorists to best understand how ADAS can be an aid, rather than a hindrance.

“It’s concerning motorists are turning safety features off, when they have been designed to help make our roads safer,” Cooney said. 

“ADAS is not there to take over – it’s there to help you stay safe. 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.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/a9/b3/a9b3e204-3117-4792-9a32-46184029df44/content/images/2026/11/toyota-landcruiser-79-ancap-2.jpg)

“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.

“Helping drivers understand and trust these safety systems is crucial to reducing the number of deaths each year and making Queensland roads safer.”

[Earlier this year](https://torquecafe.com/driver-assistance-tech-can-save-lives-but-most-australian-motorists-are-turning-it-off/), a study by insurance giant IAG – using data from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and the iMOVE Cooperative Research Centre – found that if local motorists trusted ADAS tech more, there could be a 20 per cent reduction in crashes.

QUT supplied crash data analysis of 100,000 vehicle collisions, as well as a national survey of 2000 drivers of ADAS-enabled vehicles, plus additional field research which observed 50 participant drivers using six ADAS safety features.

[Driver assistance tech can save lives, but most Australian motorists are turning it offAdvanced driver assistance systems are designed to reduce the risk or severity of crashes, but an Australian study has shown the majority of users are switching off the tech.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/a9/b3/a9b3e204-3117-4792-9a32-46184029df44/content/images/icon/cropped-favicon-54dc67a2-d539-4326-a667-292ea7a029e8.png)TorquecafeJordan Mulach![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/a9/b3/a9b3e204-3117-4792-9a32-46184029df44/content/images/thumbnail/AB0340_RAM_VUT_ADULT_2-1-77ad9f6b-9e05-4783-955f-23447cd6a72c.jpg)](https://torquecafe.com/driver-assistance-tech-can-save-lives-but-most-australian-motorists-are-turning-it-off/)

IAG noted that while the systems are effective, the majority of Australian motorists are turning the tech off, with up to 60 per cent of motorists switching off at least one ADAS function.

In total, IAG’s analysis shows that of Australia’s 40,000 annual road casualties – which are defined by hospital admissions and fatalities – full and proper ADAS use could potentially prevent 7850 casualties a year.

Presently, car-to-car autonomous emergency braking (AEB) is mandated in every passenger vehicle sold in Australia, while performance requirements for car-to-pedestrian AEB were brought in during August.

Lane-keep assist is set to be mandated for all new cars in Australia from March 2029, though it is already in the bulk of vehicles on sale.