Understanding the Impact of Technology

Understanding the Impact of Technology: Do Advanced Driver Assistance and Semi-Automated Vehicle Systems Lead to Improper Driving Behavior?

The ultimate goal of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) is to increase traffic safety and driving comfort. Despite their potential safety benefits, there are concerns about unintended consequences associated with intermediate levels of automation. In these scenarios, speed control and/or steering are automated, but the driver is still required to monitor traffic and be ready to resume control. A key concern is that drivers may become inattentive due to engagement in non-driving-related tasks or become drowsy while driving using these systems.

In this study, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute leveraged data from two previous naturalistic driving studies (NDS):

• The Virginia Connected Corridors (VCC) Level 2 Naturalistic Driving Study, in which researchers observed participants’ driving for one year as they drove their personal vehicles

• The Level 2 Mixed Function Automation (MFA) NDS, during which participants were provided with a study vehicle to drive for one month

These datasets were used to investigate driving behavior while in vehicles that offer simultaneous control of speed (adaptive cruise control [ACC]) and steering (lane-keeping assistance [LKA]), both while using the automation and when they were driving manually.

 Read more: https://aaafoundation.org/understanding-the-impact-of-technology-do-advanced-driver-assistance-and-semi-automated-vehicle-systems-lead-to-improper-driving-behavior/