IIHS Highlights Danger of Using Driver Assistance Technology – CleanTechnica

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Nothing seems to make people happier with driving than the lure of having a computer do all the work for them. Why should we avoid potholes, find the right lane, and control the traffic around us when a machine can do the job for us? Life is about more than keeping our eyes on the road. There are texts to read, computer games to play and karaoke to sing. Who has time for boring old things like driving a car? That’s what driver assistance technology is all about!

The folks at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) are constantly trying to find solutions to the killings on America’s roads, which have gotten worse lately, with more than 40,000 Americans killed in road accidents every year. Many expect driver assistance systems such as emergency braking, blind spot detection, adaptive cruise control, and the like to help reduce road accidents. big ones, but nothing makes our eyes sparkle like the fascination of a self-driving car.

Driver Assistance & Volvo

Recent research into driver assistance technologies is exposing weaknesses in the implementation of partial driver assistance programs, which many of us have always suspected but could not prove – until now. My old Irish grandfather used to say that the most dangerous part of a car is the wheel nut, and nothing has changed since he first told me that in the decades the past. The IIHS says drivers are more likely to multitask when using partial automation. Indeed, some are able to do so even while playing by the rules that the driver assistance features set that require them to pay attention to the road ahead.

“These results are a good reminder of how people learn,” said IIHS President David Harkey. If you train them to think that paying attention means pulling on the steering wheel every few seconds, that’s what they will do. Drivers were more likely to check their phones, eat a sandwich, or do other manual tasks while using Volvo’s Pilot Assist partial automation system than when driving without. such driver assistance technology. The IIHS conducted a month-long study of driver behavior in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The trend of multi-tasking also increased over time for some drivers as they grew comfortable with technology. Others were more frustrated when using the system from the start.

Using cameras and other sensors, driver assistance systems can keep your car in the center of the road at a speed you choose, slow down to avoid other vehicles and then resume speed. at speed when the road is clear. However, drivers should pay attention to what is happening on the road and be ready to take any time. New studies show that not all drivers do.

In the first study, researchers analyzed the driving behavior of 29 volunteers who were given a 2017 Volvo S90 sedan with Pilot Assist over a period of four weeks. Specifically, they assessed whether drivers are more likely to engage in non-driving activities when using highway automation related to unassisted driving, and assessed whether the relationship How has this changed over time?

The study, led by IIHS Senior Research Scientist Ian Reagan, used data collected over three years, during which volunteer-driven vehicles received two software updates that improved the lane center feature and maintenance reminders. of their one-month period. For this reason, researchers divide drivers into three groups. One group drove their cars before the upgrade, the second drove their cars after the road changes, and the third drove after the second phase of the routes and reminder updates. All versions required the driver to place their hands on the steering wheel. The research team also changed the recruitment strategy after the second group enrolled only those who did a lot of driving on highways, where automation works best.

Regardless of the type of system used, all three groups of drivers performed tasks that interfere with manual vision – including eating, grooming and using electronic devices – more often when using Pilot Assist than when they drive without it. This was true whether they used the feature a lot or not at all.

The first two groups could be distracted while driving with Pilot Assist during the second half of the month they had a car than the first. Similar to the results of a related study earlier, this suggests that they became more confident or complacent as they got used to the system. The third group did almost as much secondary work while using partial automation in the second two weeks as they had in the first two weeks. Throughout the month, the percentage of time they were interrupted while using it was very high – more than 30%. Reagan said: “We saw some differences in how the three groups used Pilot Assist, but we weren’t sure if they were related to software changes. “My take was that technology was linked to more disruption for the three.”

Driver Assistance & Tesla

In a second study, a separate team of IIHS and AgeLab researchers examined the driving behavior of 14 people who had never used Tesla’s Autopilot or any other driver assistance system. changed during a month of driving the 2020 Tesla Model 3. Unlike the Volvo study, this one focused on how often drivers triggered early system reminders, increased warnings, and mitigation measures emergency speed and shutdown procedures.

It showed that some drivers were able to know the timing of its recall so that they could prevent the warnings from escalating to more serious measures, the same study found. Some people used this knowledge to continue to behave in a disruptive way, with quick ways to stop the alerts. “In both studies, drivers changed their behavior to engage in distracting activities,” Harkey said. “This shows why automation systems need strong safeguards to prevent abuse.”

At the time, Autopilot relied on a torque sensor in the steering wheel to detect if the driver was paying attention. If the system failed to recognize the driver’s hands for a short time, it would give the first reminder of attention – a hand symbol and a white wheel appearing on the central display, together with a blue flashing light and a written message. instructing the driver to use less force to turn the steering wheel.

The driver could show that they are still busy by making small adjustments to the steering wheel, pressing the steering wheel or turning the steering wheel. If the system didn’t see one of those responses soon, it would start a series of escalating visual and audible alarms and alerts. As a last resort, Autopilot will slow the car to a stop, then shut down and deny the driver access to the entire journey.

In total, the volunteers drove more than 12,000 kilometers with Autopilot active. During that time, they produced 3,858 maintenance-related warnings from the machine’s incomplete system. About half of those alerts occurred when they had at least one hand on the steering wheel, but apparently weren’t moving it enough to satisfy the torque sensor.

Most warnings did not go beyond the first maintenance reminder, and, on average, drivers responded to the warning within about three seconds (usually by pulling the steering wheel). However, on 72 occasions, the driver did not react quickly enough to prevent the warnings from escalating. Incredibly, 16 of these climbs – 12 of them from one driver and four from three others – continued throughout the sequence resulting in a driver being locked out. to the system. From week one to week four, the rate of first 1,000-mile maintenance reminders with Autopilot increased by 26%, while the rate of escalation decreased by 64%. The average length of first attention reminders dropped by about half a second after the first week.

The percentage of time drivers were stopped during warnings also increased, although the duration of each warning was shorter. The researchers found that drivers engaged in secondary non-driving activities, looked away from the road, and had both hands on the wheel more often during the warnings and 10 seconds before and after them as they learn how maintenance reminders work. The longer they used the system, the less time it took them to take their hands off the wheel again once the warnings stopped.

The security of that change is difficult to measure. Some studies show that the longer a driver’s attention wanders, the more likely they are to be involved in an accident. However, it is also plausible that sometimes, even brief attention lapses become so frequent that the supposed intervals between them become insignificant.

“These results show that more and more reminders are more effective at getting drivers to change their behavior,” said IIHS Senior Research Scientist Alexandra Mueller, lead author of the study. “However, better safeguards are needed to ensure that behavioral change actually translates into more careful driving.”

The Takeaway

People get confused easily. In fact, we prefer to be distracted rather than engage in driving. Think of it as the “Ooooh, shiny” syndrome Lord of the Courts. We are more like Gollum than we care to admit. We also tend to believe that the computer will always do what we expect it to do and are surprised when it doesn’t. Until driver assistance technologies can take human nature into account, their performance will always fall short of their promise.