In February of 2016, a self-driving vehicle caused a collision, marking the first time a Google AV was considered at-fault in a car accident. The Google AV was traveling at 2 mph as it made its way around some sandbags in the street and moved into the center of another lane. A bus, traveling 15 mph, collided with the side of the robot car, reportedly causing no injuries. Self-driving cars have been in a number of accidents, but few have been the result of machine error. According to Google, their self-driving cars should be ready to hit the road in 2020. But for now, they remain imperfect.
For Now…
While self-driving cars are being perfected, manufacturers have employed a whole array of safety features meant to protect drivers and passengers from the mishaps of distraction. But according to a recent report from Consumer Reports, some of the intermediary solutions have led to decreased safety.
Not Quite…
Jake Fisher, director of auto testing at Consumer Reports, spoke with Here & Now’s Robin Young on November 16th, outlining some of the concerns associated with hi-tech safety features.
According to Fisher, it’s not only a problem that 41 percent of Americans are texting (according to a survey conducted by Consumer Reports), it’s also a problem that cars are decked out with tons of in-car apps and internet compatibility. As Young puts it, the vast array of features lends itself to a “false sense of security.”
It used to be that cars had a few knobs that controlled specific functions. Now, cars have complex menu systems that drivers can scroll through while traveling at high speeds – just to play a song on their Spotify.
Good Safety Features
Of course, not every feature (and not every manufacturer) is guilty of making their vehicles less safe. Fisher names two features in particular that are actually quite useful: automated emergency braking and forward collision warning. Basically, some cars are designed to sense other vehicles on the road – specifically those in front – and stop when they get too close to those cars. For example, if you turn your head to catch sight of a mountain vista, and traffic ahead suddenly halts, your car would apply an emergency brake system, effectively saving you from a rear end collision and the subsequent insurance claims. This, of course, is a good thing. But not all features are this effective.
Safe Only in Name
Some vehicles are given tons of safety features. For instance, the Mercedes-Benz S550 comes with a Distronic Plus with steering assist feature, which means you can set the speed of the car at a maximum limit, and set a minimum distance between you and the vehicles ahead. So, for instance, you might decide that you don’t want to exceed 40 mph and you want to maintain three car lengths between you and the frontward vehicle. With these settings in place, your car will effectively take over braking and acceleration. Additionally, the Mercedes-Benz S550 can take partial control of the steering, to help facilitate the navigation of curves in the road.
As noted by Fisher and Glenn Derene, Electronics Editor of Consumer Reports, these features are not advertised as full automation – meaning companies don’t intend for drivers to give up control of their vehicles to the machine. That being said, drivers of the Mercedes-Benz S550 will come face-to-face with tons of extra features and hi-resolution images on the dashboard that could lead to distraction. Fisher notes that you can change the color of the ambient lights and even adjust the scent of the vehicle.
Most of all, features like the Distronic Plus system are ambiguous, existing somewhere between full automation and zero automation. This ambiguity could lend itself to decreased safety by creating a false sense of security.
Reducing Harm
As observed in the Consumer Reports article, traffic fatalities are on the rise; in 2016, over 37,000 people died as a result of a car accident and 3,450 perished, specifically because of distraction. In fact, it seems that in the aggregate, distracted driving is on the rise. Keeping this in mind, we might wonder why Mercedes Benz would include so many features.
Some companies, like GM, employ methods for reducing distraction related to so-called infotainment features. “We measure their eye movements,” Mike Hichme, director of user experience at GM, told Consumer Reports. “They can’t have glances of longer than 2 seconds away from the road for any one task.”
These tactics, and other potential innovations in data collection and car safety, could provide better interim solutions while we wait for cars to be fully automated. Until then, it’s important to stay focused, no matter how cool the features in your car may be.
