Article Summary
An AAA study found that hands-on active driving assistance systems require driver intervention every 9 minutes, with 85 percent of drivers needing to take control. Hands-on systems require intervention three times more often than hands-off systems, highlighting that ADA technology is not a replacement for attentive driving.
- Intervention frequency: Hands-on ADA systems require driver intervention every 6.7 minutes on average, compared to every 20.1 minutes for hands-off systems
- Driver response rate: 85 percent of drivers using hands-on systems had to intervene during the study
- Most common failure: Inadequate cut-in response accounted for more than one-third of all notable events, with 90 percent requiring driver intervention
- Study scope: AAA tested five vehicles, each driven 342 miles on average, including Honda Accord, Mazda CX-30, Volkswagen Atlas, Ford F-150, and Lexus RX 450h+
- Key recommendation: Drivers must remain alert, eliminate distractions, maintain awareness, and understand how their ADA system operates
Toronto, Ontario -- Drivers using active driving assistance systems experienced a notable event every nine minutes, requiring 85 percent of them to intervene, according to a recent study by AAA Automotive Engineers.
The study evaluated and compared hands-on and hands-off ADA systems in five vehicles, and each vehicle was driven 342 miles on average. Hands-on vehicles included the 2024 Honda Accord LX Sedan, 2024 Mazda CX-30 2.5 Turbo Premium Plus and 2024 Volkswagen Atlas SE AWD w/ Technology Package. Hands-off vehicles included the 2024 Ford F-150 Platinum SuperCrew 4WD and 2024 Lexus RX 450h+ Luxury.
Notable events were defined as events in which the ADA system inadequately handled the driving situation as determined by the driver. Event types included cut-in response inadequate, lane centering inadequate, no resume after stop, lane centering and/or ACC deactivation and inadequate deceleration.
Inadequate cut-in response was the event with the highest rate of occurrence, accounting for more than one-third of all events, with 90 percent requiring drivers to intervene. On average, notable events occurred every 6.7 minutes for hands-on systems and every 20.1 minutes for hands-off systems, highlighting the importance of paying attention while driving.
“Even though ADA systems can help out in certain driving situations, they’re not a replacement for paying attention behind the wheel,” said Greg Brannon, director of automotive engineering research, in a news release. “What we’ve found is that drivers really need to stay alert and cut down on distractions, especially when things get busy on the road.”
Drivers of vehicles with hands-on systems had to intervene three times as often as drivers of vehicles with hands-off systems. AAA researchers noted that current ADA systems often encounter real-world driving situations that they can’t handle; therefore, drivers must always be ready to take control of the vehicle.
Recommendations for manufacturers of ADA technology focus on the highest-priority areas for improvement, such as response to cut-in situations, lane centering and the notification methods used to alert drivers when ADA features are active or inactive.
AAA recommends drivers remain in control, eliminate distractions, maintain awareness and be familiar with how their ADA system operates.
