A Tesla Model S plugs into a car charging station in Seabrook, New Hampshire, on August 24, 2018. A new study shows that many drivers view their semi-automated cars as self-driving.
AP
Drivers of partially automated vehicles often view them as fully self-driving, according to a new study.
A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that 53% of Cadillac Super Cruise users, 42% of Tesla Autopilot users and 12% of Nissan/Infiniti ProPILOT Assist users said they “comfortably treating their cars as fully self-driving.”
While all of these features, introduced in the last 10 years and available on certain models, are designed to help with highway driving, with features like adaptive cruise control and lane keeping, they’re not fully autonomous and require active driver control, according to a study released on Tuesday, October 11.
Representatives for Tesla, Cadillac and Nissan did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ Oct. 11 request for comment.
“The main message here is that early adopters of these systems still don’t understand the limits of the technology,” IIHS President David Harkey said in a release.
The study, which surveyed nearly 600 drivers, found discrepancies in driver activity depending on which manufacturer’s feature was used. According to the study, Cadillac and Tesla drivers were more likely than Nissan/Infiniti drivers to take their hands off the wheel or take their eyes off the road.
The IIHS said it chose the three features included in the study “because they reflect the diversity of designs on the market.”
Design, marketing and demographics likely contributed to these differences, the study noted. For example, advertising for the Cadillac Super Cruise emphasized its hands-free capability.
About 40% of Super Cruise and Autopilot users said their systems turned off while driving and didn’t reactivate, suggesting many drivers didn’t respond to warnings designed to make sure they were paying attention, according to the study.
“The widespread acceptance of attention reminders and system interlocks indicates not only that they can make partial automation safer, but also that they can be implemented more widely to help combat driver distraction in general,” the researcher IIHS Alexandra Muller – said in a release.
A separate IIHS study in 2020 found that similar automation features do it’s hard for drivers to stay informed and tempt them to turn their attention to other things.
They were there 392 documented accidents involving cars that use driver assistance technology for 10 months from July 2021 to May 2022, the New York Times reported, citing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Tesla vehicles were involved in 273 accidents, five of which were fatal.
In August, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that it did the opening of the investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot after multiple reports of crashes, the Los Angeles Times reports.
But the company’s fourth quarter 2021 security report, the most recent report available, said:
“In the 4th quarter, we recorded one accident every 4.31 million miles in which drivers used Autopilot technology (automatic steering and active safety features)… By comparison, the latest NHTSA data shows that in the United States there is an automobile accident every 484,000 miles.”