We all want safer roads, and modern cars are packed with high-tech features designed to prevent accidents and save lives – like automotive braking, lane assist, and all those clever parking alerts.
But what if those very features, meant to help protect us, are actually getting on our nerves?
The 2025 AAMI Crash Index has dived deep into this very question – asking Aussie drivers about their experience with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), and the results were eye-opening: a surprising one in five admitted to turning these safety features off.
This comes as new claims data from AAMI – analysing more than 480,000 claims – found nose to tail crashes were the most common, with afternoons being the worst time of day.
The new AAMI Crash Index research shows one in five drivers confessed to disabling their car’s safety features. This group of drivers also admitted to:
- Hitting the "off" button because they found safety features annoying, distracting, and too sensitive (69 per cent).
- Believing they don't need the assistance of in-car safety features (23 per cent).
- Concerns that they just don't trust the safety features (13 per cent).
The safety features most commonly dialled down or turned off were: lane departure warning and lane keeping assist (45 per cent), adaptive cruise control (17 per cent), parking assist (17 per cent), automatic emergency braking (16 per cent) and forward collision warning (11 per cent).
More than half of Aussie drivers (59% per cent) agreed safety features are proven methods for improving road safety, and that they reduce the severity and frequency of accidents.
AAMI’s claims data supports this with insights from February 2024 through to February 2025 showing ADAS enabled vehicles (with autonomous breaking) are less likely to be involved in an accident when compared to vehicles which do not have this technology.
AAMI motor prevention manager, Mary Kennedy, declared in-car safety features aren't just gadgets.
“They're designed to help protect us and make our roads safer. We should be embracing these features, not turning them off,” she said.
"Nose to tail collisions are the most common type of crash on our roads – they’re expensive, occur frequently, but most importantly many are preventable.
"Many of the safety features drivers are turning off, like collision warning and automatic emergency braking, are really effective at preventing these types of crashes, along with many others including reversing into another vehicle or object such as a trolley or bollard.
"Drivers should understand and use these safety features to enhance their own awareness, reduce the risk of human error, and avoid getting into an accident in the first place.
"For more than three decades, the AAMI Crash Index has been educating drivers on the importance of using safe driving habits and avoiding those that lead to accidents. We know through our claims data that Friday continues to be the worst day of the week, and afternoons are the most dangerous time on our roads, which is why we are sharing these insights in the hope of creating safer roads for everyone."