From the outset, advanced driver assistance systems have made a ton of safety promises. From being marketed as guardian angels to claims of crash reduction, the initial benefits seemed numerous. However, all manner of electronic assists get lumped into this one category, and not all are as they seem. In fact, a recent study from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety suggests that some advanced driver assistance systems like Level 2 semi-autonomy and lane-departure avoidance systems might not actually work to reduce crashes. In the words of IIHS senior vice president for research Jessica Cicchino, “With no clear evidence that partial automation is preventing crashes, users and regulators alike should not confuse it for a safety feature.”
To be perfectly clear, we aren’t talking about all purely safety-focused advanced driver assistance systems here. Automatic emergency braking works, and although HLDI data of the makes and models studied show small decreases in overall collision claims, these decreases are still measurable. Plus, that’s not even accounting for the damage mitigation aspect of automatic emergency braking, as these systems can seriously slow a vehicle down before the point of impact is reached, reducing the severity of rear-end collisions.
However, Level 2 automation, a combination of active vehicle speed control and lane-maintaining assistance might not be nearly as effective at preventing collisions. Looking into collision data on Nissan Rogue crossovers equipped with Nissan’s ProPILOT Assist Level 2 advanced driver assistance system, IIHS research found that the upgraded LED headlights frequently bundled into models with this system might actually be responsible for a significant majority of reduced collision rates on these models, as crash reduction rates were the same below 37 mph when some substantial system capabilities are locked out, are identical to those at higher speeds, and the most significant rate changes compared to models without ProPILOT Assist happened in the dark.
Even lane-maintaining assistance features might not actually work as promised. When studying crash data from BMW cars, IIHS found that “neither lane departure prevention alone nor the same feature combined with partial automation had a significant effect on crash rates, either on limited-access highways or on roads with lower speed limits.” Oh, and it’s the same story on Nissan Rogues, with IIHS claiming “There was no significant effect on lane departure crash rates from lane departure prevention.”
So, what does this mean? Well, it means that education on advanced driver assistance systems is critical to road safety, as many of these systems aren’t safety nets, they’re security blankets. This IIHS report indicates that lane-maintaining features and Level 2 semi-automation might not actually reduce collisions by a significant margin, and that has ramifications for both the drivers of cars so-equipped and drivers of other cars. Operators of vehicles with these ADAS systems need to understand that they might not work as promised. Operators of other vehicles need to keep in mind that a mindset of complacency can set it when giving too much trust to fallible systems, so driving defensively around Level 2 semi-automated vehicles is always a good idea.
It’s wishful thinking, but perhaps in the future, some of these systems can be pared back as their efficacy rates disappoint. Removing ineffective features would reduce the cost and complexity of new vehicles, putting a small dent in manufacturing costs and a potentially bigger one in repair costs. At this point, though, one thing’s for certain — the question of whether or not autonomy is a widely beneficial idea is starting to look more and more like a no.
(Photo credits: Nissan, BMW)
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