A new study by AAA has found that while Active Driving Assistance (ADA) vehicle technology shows promise, safety concerns remain, underscoring the need for drivers to stay alert and be prepared to intervene when necessary.
Advanced vehicle technology is becoming increasingly common, presenting both opportunities and challenges. AAA Automotive Engineers evaluated five passenger vehicles with low-speed-capable Active Driving Assistance (ADA) systems, also known as Traffic Jam Assistance, in heavy traffic. The study compared hands-on and hands-off ADA performance. Notable events occurred every 9 minutes on average. The most common events were cut ins and poor lane centering.
“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.”
In total, notable events were recorded every 3.2 miles, which is approximately every 9.1 minutes on average. A “notable” event was defined as any situation in which the ADA system failed to handle the driving conditions adequately, as determined by the researcher driving the vehicle.
• The most common incidents reported were inadequate responses to cut-ins, which required a researcher to intervene 90% of the time. Cut-ins are defined as instances when a vehicle enters the lane directly in front of the test vehicle.
• The second most frequent issue was inadequate Lane Centering Assistance. Lane Centering is a driver assistance system that uses cameras and other sensors to keep a vehicle centered within its lane, providing steering assistance to prevent drifting.
Engineers reported a difference between hands-on and hands-off ADA systems. Hands-on systems require the driver to keep their hands on the steering wheel while the ADA system is in use. The ADA system utilizes sensors such as cameras and radar to monitor the driving environment — road condition, lane lines, etc.
Hands-off systems allow the driver to remove their hands from the steering wheel in most situations but may require them to put their hands back on in certain conditions. These systems use similar sensors, but they also commonly rely on roads that are pre-mapped in the system.
• The findings revealed that drivers of hands-on systems had to intervene due to driving events three times more frequently than those for hands-off systems.
• Though hands-free most of the time, drivers using hands-off systems were asked to re-engage by placing their hands back on the wheel approximately once every 5.5 miles or every 15.3 minutes, requiring continuous driver engagement.
Adding advanced vehicle technology into our daily routines offers both benefits and challenges.
Recommendations to help improve road safety:
• Remain in control and be prepared to intervene by braking or steering at all times while using ADA systems. Evaluated ADA systems are never a substitute for an engaged driver.
• Eliminate distractions, including interacting with a smartphone. The need for the driver to intervene while using ADA systems can be frequent, especially in high traffic areas.
• Maintain awareness, stay engaged, and remain in complete control of the vehicle at all times, regardless of the advanced driving assistance systems in use.
• Be familiar with how their system operates. Read the vehicle owner’s manual to learn when, where, and how to use them.
• Select a following distance that suits the driving situation to allow for more time to react to a situation and intervene when needed.
It’s important to prioritize safety when developing and utilizing this technology. AAA aims to collaborate with industry leaders to enhance testing and expand consumer education about autonomous systems as they become more widely used. AAA encourages automakers to focus on:
• Enhancing ADA performance, particularly focusing on improving cut-in response and lane-centering behavior.
• Improving the visibility of alerts related to the deactivation of ADAS features to ensure drivers are aware when features are active or inactive.
Previous Research
Read “Clearing the Confusion”, a set of expanded and updated recommendations for universal terms for advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) features.
AAA, in partnership with the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Automotive Research Center, tested vehicles on limited-access highways, following designated routes during the day, to evaluate high-traffic situations. Each vehicle was driven an average of 342 miles over a period of 16.2 hours, with GPS data, video, and audio continuously recorded to capture traffic conditions, vehicle behavior, and driver observations.
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