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A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reveals that partial automation systems allowing cooperative steering can lead to more active driver participation. Unlike systems that switch off when drivers intervene, those that enable minor manual adjustments encourage drivers to stay engaged in challenging situations, potentially enhancing overall safety.
Key Highlights:
- Systems with cooperative steering allow manual adjustments without deactivating automation, enhancing driver engagement.
- Drivers with cooperative systems are 40%-48% less likely to keep their hands off the wheel in nerve-wracking scenarios.
- IIHS research suggests system design significantly influences driver habits, with cooperative features fostering safer driving behavior.
Partial automation systems use cameras and sensors to keep vehicles in-lane, adjusting speed as needed to maintain a safe distance from other cars. Although designed to help drivers, they cannot handle all on-road scenarios, requiring the driver to remain attentive. Despite attention-monitoring features, past studies show that drivers don’t always do so. One potential solution is cooperative steering, which allows drivers to make small steering adjustments without the system switching off.
A survey conducted by Alexandra Mueller, a senior IIHS research scientist, involved 1,260 owners of Ford, General Motors, Nissan/Infiniti, and Tesla vehicles. The survey revealed a significant difference in driver behavior based on system design. Ford’s BlueCruise and Nissan’s ProPILOT Assist systems allow steering adjustments while remaining active, whereas GM’s Super Cruise and Tesla’s Autopilot disengage lane-centering support if the driver intervenes.
“Those are sizable differences,” said Mueller, noting that drivers of systems that deactivate lane-centering upon manual steering were less likely to want to intervene due to the hassle of reactivating the system.
The survey involved showing participants a video demonstrating how different systems respond to manual steering input. The Ford and Nissan systems continued to provide lane-centering support after manual adjustments, while Tesla and GM systems required reactivation, with GM’s Super Cruise having a delay in resuming lane-centering.
The results showed that drivers often believed their system stayed on, even if it didn’t. However, when questioned about specific driving scenarios, drivers’ responses indicated a clear understanding of their system’s behavior in practice. Videos of real-life driving scenarios, including an uneventful baseline and two more challenging scenarios involving a pickup truck towing a trailer, were used to assess driver responses.
Drivers with cooperative systems were 36% more likely to steer within their lane under normal conditions and were also more inclined to adjust their vehicle’s position when facing challenging driving situations, such as a weaving vehicle nearby. In scenarios involving a large pickup towing a trailer, drivers with cooperative systems were 26% and 29% more likely to take evasive steering actions compared to those with non-cooperative systems.
When evaluating the tendency to keep hands on the wheel, drivers with cooperative systems were 40% less likely to drive hands-free when passing a steady vehicle and 48% less likely when the vehicle next to them was weaving.
“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,” Mueller concluded.
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