ALEXANDRIA, Va.—A new study shows that drivers only want partial vehicle automation with appropriate safeguards. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that while consumer interest in automation is strong, drivers appear to prefer partially automated features that require them to stay engaged in driving.
“Automakers often assume that drivers want as much technology as they can get in their vehicles,” said Alexandra Mueller, the survey’s primary designer. “But few studies have examined actual consumer opinions about partial driving automation.”
Most partial automation systems are designed to assist with highway driving. Lane centering continuously adjusts the steering to keep the vehicle in the middle of the travel lane, while adaptive cruise control manages the vehicle’s speed and distance from vehicles ahead. Some systems also have an automated lane changing feature, which enables the vehicle to change lanes without the driver needing to steer.
However, partial automation still can’t handle many relatively common situations. Thus, systems need to monitor the driver to help ensure they remain ready to intervene if something goes wrong. Most use sensors in the steering wheel or driver-facing cameras for this purpose.
The survey also showed a high level of acceptance of several types of driver monitoring. Regardless of whether the feature in question allowed for hands-free operation or required the driver’s hands to remain on the wheel, a majority of drivers said they would be comfortable with all three driver-monitoring strategies covered in the survey. Those strategies included sensors on the steering wheel, a camera tracking what the driver is doing with their hands and a camera aimed at their face tracking where they are looking.
“The drivers who were the most comfortable with all types of driver monitoring tended to say they would feel safer knowing that the vehicle was monitoring them to ensure they were using the feature properly,” says Mueller. “That suggests that communicating the safety rationale for monitoring may help to ease consumers’ concerns about privacy or other objections.”
In Canada, consumer readiness for fully automated, self-driving vehicles is low, and there are considerable deficiencies in consumer understanding of automated vehicles, according to a study by J.D Power, Partners for Automated Vehicle Education - Canada and MIT’s AVT Consortium.
Sixty-seven percent of consumers in Canada possess inaccurate knowledge of fully automated, self-driving vehicles. More than half (59%) of respondents classify driver-assist technologies that are available today as being fully automated, self-driving technologies—an indication that consumers are unaware they are overestimating their AV knowledge.
Technology failures and cyber security top the list of AV concerns as 48% of consumers cite the possibility of AVs being hacked as a disadvantage. This concern is cited equally across generations.
“Consumers are receptive to learning about technology but managing misconceptions regarding the benefits AVs offer is imperative. Industry stakeholders must work together to ensure consistent consumer-facing terminology is used and that there is continuity in AV education across learning and information sources,” said Lisa Boor, senior manager of auto benchmarking and mobility development at J.D. Power.
From July 2021 to May 15, 2022, automakers reported nearly 400 crashes involving vehicles with partially automated driver-assist systems, including 273 with Teslas, reports the Associated Press. The Tesla crashes happened while vehicles were using Autopilot, “Full Self-Driving,” Traffic Aware Cruise Control, or other driver-assist systems that have some control over speed and steering.