One in Five Drivers Disables Life-Saving Safety Tech — And They Don’t Even Know How to Use It

A sweeping UK study by Censuswide, commissioned by Dick Lovett, reveals that a significant portion of drivers either ignore or disable advanced driver aids, leaving expensive safety tech gathering dust. The nationally representative survey polled 1,350 UK motorists in summer 2026 and found that 25.9 percent of owners with adaptive cruise control never activate it, while 7 percent admit they wouldn’t know how to turn it on if they tried. Nearly one in five (17.8 percent) avoid lane-keeping assist, and a striking 21.3 percent disable automatic emergency braking outright, citing overly aggressive behavior that causes more problems than it solves. Voice assistants also go unused by 17.8 percent of drivers, while 17.1 percent refuse to enable augmented reality (AR) head-up displays, with another 7 percent clueless about how to operate them. The pattern extends to comfort features: only 22 percent use massaging seats regularly, just 22.4 percent engage with AR head-up displays when available, and only 24.5 percent utilize remote start functions. Many of these features are already rare in the first place—67.3 percent of respondents’ cars lack massaging seats, 62 percent don’t have remote start, 60.5 percent lack AR head-up displays, and 57.3 percent go without app-controlled climate settings. Despite the underutilization of cutting-edge tech, more fundamental features see heavy adoption. Bluetooth connectivity tops the list, with 58.3 percent of drivers calling it indispensable. Reversing cameras are used regularly by 45.7 percent, built-in satellite navigation by 44.5 percent, and heated windshields by 41 percent. Driving modes, though ubiquitous in modern cars, are used regularly by only 27.3 percent of drivers, with younger motorists (25–34 years old) leading at 38.3 percent. Age plays a decisive role in tech adoption: Bluetooth is a staple for 68.5 percent of 25–34-year-olds and 68.8 percent of 35–44-year-olds, compared to just 49.7 percent of drivers aged 55 and over. Wireless charging sees a stark divide—44.4 percent of 35–44-year-olds use it versus 20.7 percent of those over 55—while remote start plummets from over a quarter of under-35s to just 5.1 percent for those over 55. Heated windshields defy the trend, with usage climbing from 27.2 percent among 18–24-year-olds to nearly 45 percent for drivers aged 45–54. The findings suggest many buyers are paying for tech they either don’t understand or don’t trust, leaving regulators and automakers with a paradox: mandated safety systems sit idle while simpler, more universally adopted features dominate. Dick Lovett’s Alex Lee emphasizes the need for better customer education, arguing that familiarizing drivers with their vehicles’ capabilities could enhance safety, comfort, and overall satisfaction. The study also ranks the UK’s top 10 favorite car technologies, with Bluetooth connectivity leading at 58.3 percent, followed by reversing cameras (45.7 percent), built-in navigation (44.5 percent), and heated windshields (41 percent).