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Partial driving automation systems from major automakers such as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Ford (NYSE:F) and General Electric (NYSE:GM) received negative ratings from a study which found that most such systems lacked adequate measures prevent improper use or maintain driver concentration.
A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tested approximately 14 partial driving automation systems from BMW (OTCPK:BMWYY), Ford, General Motors, Genesis, Lexus (TM), Mercedes-Benz (OTCPK:MBGAF), Nissan ( OTCPK:NSANY ), Tesla and Volvo (OTCPK:VOLAF) and we found that only one of them achieved an acceptable rating. Two were rated marginal and 11 were rated poor.
“Some drivers may believe that partial automation makes long trips easier, but there is little evidence that it makes driving safer,” IIHS President David Harkey said.
“As many high-profile incidents have shown, they can introduce new risks when systems don’t have the proper protections in place,” Harkey added.
The IIHS study found that the Teammate system available on the Lexus LS is the only system tested that earns an Acceptable rating. Meanwhile, the GMC Sierra and Nissan Ariya are both available with partial automation systems that earn Marginal ratings.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E, Genesis G90, Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan, Tesla Model 3 and Volvo S90 earned poor ratings, in some cases for more than one version of partial automation, the study noted.
“No single system performed well across the board, but in every category, at least one system performed well. This means that fixes are readily available and, in some cases, can be achieved with nothing more than a simple software update “said David Harkey.
The study assigned scores based on a series of tests conducted across multiple trials, and some performance areas were given greater weight than others.