It's not encountering it that inspires false confidence. It's knowing that the car has it inspires false confidence. People think that it keeps you from hitting things, so they worry less about hitting things, so they focus less on not hitting things.
The feature isn’t tangible until it is used. Psychologically, people aren’t going to trust it very much because they have no idea about its capabilities. Automatic emergency breakdown my is very much like air bags in that way, which inspire a lot less confidence than seat belts because most people never experience how air bags actually work (whereas they can feel the tug of the seat belts constantly).
The best safety features are intangible until needed for this reason.
> Psychologically, people aren’t going to trust it very much because they have no idea about its capabilities.
What makes you believe this? Just because you won’t trust it until it happens doesn’t mean that the average driver won’t. It’s advertised as a feature of the car for s reason.
