How Do Driver-Assist Safety Features Really Work?

Driver-assist safety features are found on a majority of new vehicles sold today, and research shows that having assistive technology to prevent and mitigate accidents is resulting in fewer injuries and less damage to vehicles and property. When shopping at a used car dealer in Louisville, you are more likely than ever to discover vehicles that come standard with driver-assist features. Some drivers feel safer using the technology, while others find it distracting and may choose to shut off features they don’t like. Though certain features are becoming commonplace, the technology is constantly being improved for better performance. Here, we explain how the most common driver-assist features work and why they make driving safer overall.

Do Driver-Assist Features Save Lives?

Studies conducted through numerous institutions are providing data that shows vehicles equipped with advanced driver-assist safety features like automatic emergency braking or forward collision warning are reducing the number of accidents, as well as the severity of accidents that occur. In fact, a study from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) discovered that the use of these two features in vehicles resulted in a 50 percent decrease in front-to-rear accidents. Another study conducted by LexisNexis Risk Solutions found that vehicles using driver-assist technology reduced injuries from accidents by 27 percent, and damage to property reduced by 19 percent overall.

While these numbers are encouraging, the use of such systems may also be beneficial for avoiding accidents involving animals crossing roads. Some vehicles are utilizing infrared technology to spot animals on the road at night, but conclusive studies have yet to determine the effectiveness of driver-assist tech in preventing collisions with animals like deer. Even without conclusive studies, there are reports of individuals who have experienced successful avoidance of accidents when their auto emergency braking system engaged to avoid hitting deer. There are incidents of false alerts causing braking systems to engage unnecessarily, such as from shadows on the road or from cars parked on a curve, but the benefits typically outweigh the occasional false alert.

Driver-Assist Features Explained

Even though many driver-assist features are becoming old news to car manufacturers and dealerships, buyers of used vehicles may be encountering these features for the first time if they own an older vehicle that doesn’t have this assistive technology. Knowing how the most common of these features operate may help drivers to be more comfortable if they know what to expect when they engage. The features that should be easiest to adjust to using are the warnings and alerts that let the driver know there may be danger ahead. Features like forward collision warning, lane departure warning, rear cross-traffic warning, and blind-spot warning are some of the most common you may find, even on older vehicles.

Forward collision warning issues an alert, often in the form of beeps or warning lights in the dash if the vehicle gets too close to an object or vehicle ahead. Lane departure warning indicates that your vehicle is in danger of drifting out of its lane. Rear cross-traffic warning uses sensors in the rear of the vehicle to indicate possible impacts when driving in reverse, while blind-spot warning monitors the lanes behind the vehicle for potential collisions before a lane change. All of these warnings are valuable resources to a driver who may be able to brake or properly steer the vehicle away from an accident, but none of these alerts will offer assistance to mitigate a collision.

Features like automatic emergency braking, blind-spot intervention, lane centering, lane-keeping assistance, and adaptive cruise control all utilize technology to actively assist the driver in collision prevention. Auto emergency braking works with sensors that scan the road ahead for obstacles or pedestrians, then the system engages the brakes if a vehicle or person is in the way. Blind-spot intervention works through sensors in the rear of the vehicle to provide light braking or steering assistance to the driver if a vehicle is in the path indicated by use of the turn signal. To prevent the accident, your vehicle will be steered back to the current lane.

Lane centering tends to be more of a preventative feature that reduces driver fatigue and keeps the vehicle in its own lane. Sensors scan the road for lane markings, and the system maintains the vehicle’s position in its lane with mild steering adjustments. Using lane-keeping assistance is more about mitigating a vehicle’s unintended departure from its lane when it senses the vehicle is drifting—this can be activated if you attempt to change a lane without using a signal. Braking, steering, and acceleration can all be employed by this system depending on the vehicle and brand in order to keep the vehicle in its lane to prevent accidentally driving off the road or cutting off traffic due to fatigue or lack of attention on the road. Even when these systems engage, the driver ultimately is in control. Current assistive technology doesn’t remove control from the driver’s ability to steer, brake, or accelerate in most situations.

Other features like adaptive cruise control, automatic high beams, and automatic crash notification systems offer more assistance that is helpful in less obtrusive ways. Adaptive cruise control works much like traditional cruise control found on most vehicles by allowing the driver to set the speed, but the adaptive feature slows the vehicle’s speed to maintain a safe distance from vehicles ahead if traffic slows on the highway. Automatic high beams have sensors or cameras that detect light; when it gets dark, the high beams will turn on, and sensors dim to low beams in the brightness of other headlights or city lighting. In the case of an accident that couldn’t be prevented, an automatic crash notification can be sent to emergency responders who will be given the vehicle’s location in response to airbag deployment or sudden deceleration. Such a system can save the lives of passengers who may not be able to call for help.

The Future of Safer Vehicles

Because forward collision prevention technology has been proven to be so effective in reducing injuries and property damage, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the IIHS have worked together to encourage car manufacturers to include automatic emergency braking as a standard feature on future vehicles. Automotive manufacturers selling vehicles in the United States have voluntarily agreed to include forward collision warning and auto emergency braking as standard equipment by September 1, 2022. This effort includes 20 manufacturers and amounts to 99 percent of vehicles sold in the US.

With the collision warning and automatic braking working together, the expectation is to continue to see a reduction in collisions that result in rear-ending another vehicle. Such systems are often paired with pedestrian detection, which can also prevent injuries to people crossing streets or running alongside the edge of the road. A study that collected data from Subaru’s pedestrian detection system showed a 35 percent reduction in insurance claims for pedestrians being injured by a vehicle, as compared to vehicles that did not have this assistive technology. More advanced systems are capable of sensing cyclists and could lead to better detection of large animals in the road in the future.

The bottom line is that driver-assist technology is proving its worth in preventing or mitigating injuries and damage. Technology that intelligently interacts with the environment to avoid human error is already saving lives and loss of property from accidents. Though the technology is expensive to replace if it gets damaged, the lower rates of insurance claims may begin to balance the scales in terms of expense. Even if a crash isn’t avoided completely, having the system slow the vehicle certainly minimizes the damage. Avoiding injuries is the ultimate goal, and driver-assist tech is here to stay. People who are in the market for a used car in the near future can expect these technologies to be present in almost any vehicle they buy, so getting familiar with how they work may help reduce any concerns about how technology will affect your driving in the future.