Study: ADAS systems unreliable, more of an interference than an assistance

In today's zinger, the American Automobile Association (AAA) has declared that vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are more problematic than they are helpful - with problems occuring every 13 km.

Hold on to your pitchforks please...

The main foibles noted in the study are to do with systems that combine acceleration, braking and steering. They often disengage with little notice and almost instantly snaps control back to the driver without warning. 

It doesn’t take much to know that this is very dangerous, especially if a driver has become disengaged from driving or has become too dependent on the system. 

AAA’s tests were done in real-world and closed-course settings to see how well the systems respond to common driving scenarios.

On public roads, it was found that 73% of errors involved lane keeping assistance not working properly, causing lane departures or erratic lane position. 

In closed-course testing, the systems performed mostly as expected but they were stumped when approaching a simulated disabled vehicle.

In this case, the systems failed to react accordingly and a collision occurred 66% of the time, with average impact speeds of 40 km/h.

Active driving assistance, classified as SAE Level 2 driving automation is pretty much the highest level of automated vehicle technology available to the public today.

This means that for a majority of drivers, this is their first experience with such systems. With the test results as such, it definitely has a long way to go before it can be perfectly reliable.

Testing methodology

For these tests, AAA drove the 2019 BMW X7, 2019 Cadillac CT6, 2019 Ford Edge, 2020 Kia Telluride and 2020 Subaru Outback over 6,437 km, including curved and hilly inland roads.

These cars were driven on public highways with well-defined lane markers and consistent lane width.

The test also utilised roads that contained sections of road work resulting in lane closures, missing or inconsistent lane markers and/or uneven pavement, which is how they can test its accuracy.

Remember, ADAS is just an assistance

This goes back to the point Jason made recently that ADAS systems are not the be-all and end-all when it comes to driver safety. Sure, it helps when it works, but that’s what it really is - just a tool to help you. In the end, you have to remember that you are in control and drive responsibly.