Tesla, Ford, GM Among 11 Failing Safety Standards
Lexus 'Teammate' Sole Model Passing Evaluation
Most driving automation (assistance) features applied to major car models in the United States received failing grades in safety evaluations.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), a U.S. automotive safety evaluation organization, announced on the 12th (local time) that out of 14 "partial driving automation systems" from nine major car manufacturers tested, only one received a passing grade. Two were rated as marginal, while the remaining 11 received poor ratings.
The evaluation covered 1 to 2 partial driving automation systems from BMW, Ford, General Motors (GM), Genesis, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Tesla, and Volvo. Among these, the 'Teammate' system installed in the Lexus LS was the only one to receive a passing grade, while the GMC Sierra and Nissan Ariya were rated close to passing. Tesla Model 3, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Genesis G90, Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan, and Volvo S90 received poor ratings in at least one version of their partial automation systems.
Although most partial automation systems have safety features designed to keep drivers focused on driving and able to respond to unexpected situations, IIHS explained that the tests showed these features were not very strong. It was pointed out that the systems do not provide sufficient warnings when the driver’s attention is distracted and that the automated driving function operates even when occupants are not wearing seat belts.
Ford’s system immediately issued a warning if the driver’s face or camera lens was obscured, but it failed to detect when the driver’s hands were engaged in other tasks. BMW’s system showed no response even when the camera lens or driver’s face was obscured. Lexus and Genesis systems failed to take emergency actions even when the driver was not involved in driving and did not respond to repeated warnings.
Regarding the adaptive cruise control (ACC) function that helps maintain distance between vehicles, it is safer if the system only resumes operation after the vehicle has been stopped for at least two minutes and the driver is paying attention to the road. However, Tesla and BMW systems could resume this function at any time. David Harkey, IIHS president, said, "Most systems lack measures to prevent driver misuse and maintain driver attention."
IIHS announced plans to introduce a new safety rating program. Through this, it intends to encourage safety features that help reduce intentional misuse of systems and loss of driver attention. It also added that it will discourage designs that allow the system to operate when automatic emergency braking (AEB) is turned off or when seat belts are not fastened.
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