Drivers Let Their Focus Slip As They Get Used To Partial Automation

Drivers fidget with electronics and take both hands off the wheel more often as they develop trust in automated systems, new research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab shows.

To investigate how experience with automation affects driver disengagement, the researchers studied the driving behavior of 20 Massachusetts-based volunteers over a month’s time as they gained familiarity with advanced driver assistance features, examining how often they removed both hands from the steering wheel or took their attention away from the road to do things like use their cell phone or adjust the controls on the vehicle’s console.

One group of 10 drove a Land Rover Range Rover Evoque equipped with adaptive cruise control (ACC), which automatically keeps the vehicle traveling at a speed chosen by the driver while maintaining a pre-established following distance.

Another 10 drove a Volvo S90 with both ACC and Pilot Assist, a partially automated system that combines ACC with lane-centering technology that keeps the vehicle positioned laterally in the travel lane.

Under the classification system developed by SAE International, the levels of automation range from 0 (no automation) to 5 (fully self-driving). Level 1 systems can assist the driver with one driving task; ACC fits into this category. Level 2 systems, such as Pilot Assist, can assist with two tasks. Level 2 is the highest level of automation available in production vehicles today.