Do you think advanced driver assistance systems have made driving safer, or even easier? The Times News is writing a story, and we’d like to hear from you.

Over the decades, motor vehicles’ ability to facilitate safe driving has improved leaps and bounds. The addition of advanced driver assistance systems like forward collision warning, lane keeping assist and blind-spot monitoring technologies have made drivers not only more aware, but more prepared to travel the roads. Or so one might think.

But according to a recent study released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, while new technologies like those mentioned above possess the potential to avert 40 percent of all vehicle crashes and prevent almost 30 percent of all traffic deaths, misunderstandings about their proper functions cause an over-reliance or misuse of these systems, lessening their ability.

“These new research findings should cause automakers and others to increase focus on consumer education,” Tom Ashley, executive vice president of AAA East Central, is quoted as saying in a news release from AAA East Central. “Driver understanding and proper utilization are crucial in reaping the full safety benefits of these systems.”

One result of the study, which was commissioned by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and conducted by researchers at the University of Iowa, found that when it came to blind-spot monitoring systems, 80 percent of drivers surveyed didn’t understand the technology’s limitations or incorrectly presumed that the systems could monitor the roadway and detect bicycles, pedestrians or vehicles passing at high speeds.

Have advanced driver assistance systems made you a better driver, or do you think they’ve made you less aware? If you’re an owner of a 2016 or 2017 model-year vehicle equip with these systems, and would like to share your experience, email dderrickson@tnonline.com.