ADAS systems are increasingly popular but the level of human intervention needed shows they have significant room for improvement; a new study has found.
A leading motoring association in the US found in certain system human intervention occurred every nine minutes on average
The American Automobile Association did the testing on five passenger vehicles with five basic ADAS systems, including traffic Jam Assistance with the most common actin taken over cut ins and poor lane centring.
Every 5km or 9.1 minutes on average, the researcher driving the vehicle decided the ADAS system failed to handle the driving conditions adequately with the driver needing to intervene 90% of the time when a vehicle entered the lane directly in front of the test vehicle.
The second most frequent issue was inadequate Lane Centring Assistance where the ADAS uses cameras and other sensors to keep a vehicle centred within its lane, providing steering assistance to prevent drifting.
Local aversion to ADAS
In Australia an AAMI Crash Index research of 480,000 claims shows one in five drivers confessed to disabling their car’s safety features including more than half who responded they found safety features “annoying”, “distracting”, and “too sensitive”.
A group of academics from the University of South Australia have argued that the most disliked feature is the most effective one.
They say lane-keeping assist is the most frequently disabled feature in Australia with nearly 45% of drivers report they have turned it off – even though it is designed to prevent some of the most common and deadly crash types: run-off-road and lane-departure collisions.
The South Australian Univeristy team maintain winding roads, in roadworks, or when markings are faded, cause it to issues frequent warnings or attempt corrections with drivers finding this disconcerting and a reason to switch it off.
Paying attention
The US study shows the driver is still vital for safety.
“Even though ADA systems can help out in certain driving situations, they’re not a replacement for paying attention behind the wheel,” said Greg Brannon, director of automotive engineering research. “What we’ve found is that drivers really need to stay alert and cut down on distractions, especially when things get busy on the road.”
More advanced ADAS levels like hands-off ADAS systems, not currently legal in Australia, fared better with only a third of hands-on interventions but drivers still had to put their hands back on the wheel every 8knm or every 15.3 minutes
These systems often rely on roads that are pre-mapped in the system and still required continuous driver engagement.
The AAA established ADAS systems were never a substitute for an engaged driver and said drivers needed to remain in in control and be prepared to intervene by braking or steering at all times.
This meant distractions, like smartphones, could still be potential dangerous given the frequency of the need for the driver to intervene while using ADA systems especially in high traffic areas.
Next steps
The AAA wants to work with OEMs and system manufactures to further improve ADAS performance, particularly focusing on improving cut-in response and lane-centring behaviour.
It also wants to improve the visibility of alerts related to the deactivation of ADAS features to ensure drivers are aware when features are active or inactive.