Some driver aids may lead to reckless responses: study

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• Brash, loud warnings from driver aids may prompt sudden, dangerous responses, per a new study
• Women were more likely than men to learn from advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS)
• The research may point to a need to better consider driver behaviour in how ADAS work

A new study carried out by researchers in the halls of higher education in countries like America and Hong Kong is suggesting what some of us have been preaching all along: today’s raft of modern advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) are causing some drivers to engage in more instances of dangerous driving, not less.

Lest we bury the lede, it is important to note that even if a small subset of the general population is being made more reckless by the tech, these aids are on balance still a boon for vehicular safety, with overall collision rates trending downwards since their introduction. In fact, the study reports that lane-departure and forward-collision systems reduced these types of incidents by 15%, while blind-spot monitoring cut crashes in that area by 19%. This is good news.

Still, the City University of Hong Kong-, University of Texas at Austin-, and University of Maryland-based researchers behind “General Behavioral Impact of Smart System Warnings: A Case of Advanced Driving Assistance Systems” noticed a quirky trend. Some drivers, when faced with what the study calls “highly urgent warnings,” tended to overcompensate in their correction as part of triggered automatic responses. The term “hard braking” is used several times whilst describing these findings, making it sound to this author that some drivers might leap to their taps and stab the brakes when their car unleashes a barrage of siren klaxons, warning lights, and violently buzzing seats.

On the flip side, so-called “less urgent alerts,” as termed by the researchers, appeared to help reinforce good behaviour and even taught drivers a thing or two. Eggheads call this “deliberate learning,” the type in which someone is gently nudged over time towards better behaviour. Of further interest was a gender difference discovered by the team, suggesting men were less likely than women to learn reflexively from ADAS warnings. A quick survey of any high-school parking lot, or highway lane for that matter, may reinforce those findings.

In all, the study results suggest a need to integrate user behaviour into the design of smart features, like the ADAS and related services found on just about every new car on the road today. Perhaps there’s an argument for gently informing drivers they’re drifting out of their lane rather than admonishing them loudly. After all, if someone’s already a nervous driver, yelling at them won’t make the situation much better.

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