The small thing that can keep drivers attentive while using partial automation

With more cars equipped with partial automation hitting the road, safety researchers are growing increasingly worried about driver attention and the potential for these systems to cause crashes. A new survey has a possible solution to the problem of wandering attention while using partial automation: let drivers adjust the steering.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducted a new study that found that drivers were more likely to stay alert while using advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) when they were allowed to correct the steering without disengaging the partial automation.

“These results suggest that small differences in system design can nudge drivers toward safer habits,” said IIHS president David Harkey in a statement.

Most people have a lot of difficulty distinguishing between ADAS and fully automated driving systems. If the car is controlling acceleration, braking, and lane centering as well as performing automatic lane changes and monitoring blind spots — and your hands are in your lap the whole time — why shouldn’t that be described as self-driving or autonomous? It’s no surprise people conflate driver-assistance systems with self-driving.

There is compelling evidence that, regardless of the company, most driver-assist systems are less safe than normal human driving. Drivers tend to develop an overreliance on these systems to drive the car for them — even after a short period of use. And when it’s time to take back control of the vehicle, their reaction times are slower than what’s considered safe.

There are also more instances of distracted driving when using ADAS — and why wouldn’t there be? When an ADAS frees up your hands from the task of driving, what are drivers most likely to do with that free time? Pick up their phones.

IIHS was interested in learning how different systems approached this issue of driver inattention. The group’s researchers conducted an online survey of 1,260 owners of Ford, General Motors, Nissan / Infiniti, and Tesla vehicles equipped with partial automation who regularly use the technology.

Some models allowed for steering input, while others did not. Ford’s BlueCruise and Nissan / Infiniti’s ProPilot Assist remain switched on when the driver makes steering adjustments within the lane, which IIHS refers to as “shared control.” GM’s Super Cruise and Tesla’s Autopilot system turn off lane centering support when the driver gives steering input. Nissan and Tesla require drivers to keep their hands on the wheel, while Ford and GM allow hands-free driving under certain conditions.

The survey results revealed that those whose vehicles allow shared control were “40-48 percent less likely than the others to say they would keep their hands off the wheel in situations that would make most drivers nervous,” IIHS says.

“These findings suggest that cooperative steering may have an implicit influence on how willing drivers are to take action when the situation calls for it, regardless of how they think their system is designed,” study author Alexandra Mueller said in a statement.

As more partially automated vehicles hit the road, safety advocates are hoping the federal government is paying attention to the dangerous side effects of this technology. And there is some evidence that regulators are taking more of an interest.

In 2021, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a standing general order requiring automakers to report crashes involving autonomous vehicles as well as Level 2 driver-assist systems found in millions of vehicles on the road today. Companies are now required to document collisions when ADAS was in use within 30 seconds of impact and report those incidents to the government. Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems, as well as Ford’s BlueCruise, are both currently under investigation.