Subaru DriverFocus
Subaru Driver Focus is a piece of technology designed to keep your eyes on the road. Unveiled in the 2019 Forester, the technology was the first of its kind and worked in unison with Subaru Eyesight Driver Assist: aiding in braking and collision diversion. This feature is exclusive to Subaru and has more features than making you pay attention. While this technology seems to be bringing us closer to the future of automotive transportation and safety, with the ultimate goal of completely autonomous vehicles, many people have questions and concerns regarding the new technology. Is it too intrusive? Can it be turned off? What vehicles have DriverFocus? This article aims to ease concerns and better educate drivers on how to fully utilize the Subaru DriverFocus technology.
DriverFocus works to mitigate distracted driving. To do this, Subaru uses facial recognition technology that determines if the driver is on their phone or if you seem to be getting sleepy. The software can track up to five drivers and, depending on the driver, the mirrors and seats will adjust to their preferred settings. If the driver’s eyes seem to veer off the road or glance down at a phone, the car will flash a warning and an audible alert, bringing their focus back to the road. While there may not be exact numbers to back up this claim, it is hard to think that this technology hasn’t reduced the amount of collisions in Subaru vehicles.
DriverFocus can be a great tool when driving and keeping you safe. However, if someone was looking for a little more freedom while driving this feature can easily be turned off on the dash with a button on the lefthand side of the steering wheel. The settings can also add/remove users and add a custom greeting for your Subaru! DriverFocus is available in the Outback, Forester, and the Legacy, but only 2019 models and newer. The DriverFocus feature only works with registered users, and info can be input by navigating into the settings and adding a user. Here the car will read the driver’s face, and lock mirrors/settings into the proper position for said driver.
Now some people may be intrigued by this technology, some can find it somewhat off-putting. Reddit users were quick to point out the seeming flaws and potential invasiveness of the technology. However, in the Subaru company privacy policy, the company states that they do not collect any information from said data.
If you have this feature installed and in use, you can capitalize on some awesome insurance incentives for being a great driver. For more information on DriverFocus, please visit the Subaru factory website.
While DriverFocus may take away from a traditional driving experience, at the end of the day it works as it is intended: keeping the driver and passengers safe! While it may be enticing to turn off the feature or remove the part all together (please don’t), we ask you to utilize DriverFocus and create a safer, more comfortable time on the road for not only the driver, but everyone else.
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