New IIHS ratings for advanced driver assistance systems

[blkadr08]

From CNN this morning:

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which rates cars and SUVs for safety, examined so-called advanced driver assistance systems such as Tesla Autopilot and found them wanting.

The organization rated hands-free highway driving systems from Ford and Nissan as “poor.” General Motors’ hands-free system, Super Cruise, was rated as “marginal.” Only Lexus’s Teammate with Advanced Drive system received a rating of “acceptable.” Even that rating, though, is still one step below the Insurance Institute’s highest possible rating of good.

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[ack154]

More detail here... but doesn't explicitly call out why the Ford is "poor" (or any others for that matter). There are some references to different systems as they talk about different components further down, but this doesn't contain the actual reviews/rating detail.

https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/fi...afeguard-ratings-show-industry-has-work-to-do

 

[Eric_C_Boston]

If you read the article, you will see most systems are rated poor. I wonder what version they tested.
https://fordauthority.com/2024/03/ford-bluecruise-rated-poor-by-all-new-iihs-ratings-system/

The ratings. It looks like the poor rating for safety features caused the poor rating overall for BlueCruise.
https://www.iihs.org/ratings/partial-automation-safeguards

 

[Mach-Lee]

https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/fi...afeguard-ratings-show-industry-has-work-to-do

Ratings: https://www.iihs.org/ratings/partial-automation-safeguards

Looks like they’re being pretty stingy because almost everyone failed. I think all versions of BlueCruise will fail because of the poor fallback behavior. It doesn’t put the hazard flashers on.

Also a bummer they don’t allow automatic lane changes without driver confirmation.

 

[hbirring01]

I dont blame them. Theyre probably still on BC 1.0 like many of us. I paid the 600 and barely use it. Waiting on 1.4 to see if I will buy another Ford product or go with Tesla or Rivian next.

 

[AZBill]

Not sure how they can rate Supercruise as Poor for lane changes, it is fully automated and wells very well.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Not sure how they can rate Supercruise as Poor for lane changes, it is fully automated and wells very well.

Probably because it’s fully automated and they don’t like that because IIHS is extreme.

 

[AhardFSU]

If you think about the role of IIHS, they're likely to not rate many of the systems very high. And the more 'hands-off' the system is, the more likely IIHS will rate it poorly. I suspect they want as many fallback systems as possible while also not allowing the car to do lane changes on it own.

 

[SWO]

Not sure how they can rate Supercruise as Poor for lane changes, it is fully automated and wells very well.

They also rated Tesla FSD lower than autopilot on lane changes.

 

[BigMach-E]

Having not tried the Teammate system, and honestly only having BlueCruise to judge from, I think IIHS is more concerned about how quickly the system notices inattentiveness, and what it does about it. They are concerned about potential misuse, not how well the system operates let’s say in slowing the car down to match traffic, keeping in the lane, following curves. I agree, when the system disengages, it’s not giving you a strong enough warning, and it does it way too quickly. However, I don’t want Klaxon alarms going off in the car. It’s a driver assistance system at best, and hands free is almost a laughable term for it.

 

[kodiakng]

i love how every organization needs a new terminology and classification system to scope their studies. the IIHS has now entered the chat with "partial driving automation" and it's shorter cousin "partial automation."

Partial driving automation is a convenience feature that is meant to make long drives easier. There’s no evidence that it makes driving safer, and, in fact, it can create new risks by making it easier for the driver’s attention to wander. For this reason, it’s essential that all partial driving automation systems incorporate robust safeguards.

it appears they're describing up to SAE's level 2 system autonomy but are never clear about it so they can extend their term to whatever they want later on.

EDIT: LOL just found the actual SAE documents and see they do describe their Level 2 as Partial Driving Automation. so, just ignore my ranting for today. time for more coffee.

 

[JSW]

My MMe and it’s BC are old (Nov. 2020 build).
Yet I love its OG hands-free driving. I’ve become so addicted to BC that I turned down my Blazer EV reservation because it could not be ordered with Supercruise.

 

[MBCook]

Having not tried the Teammate system, and honestly only having BlueCruise to judge from, I think IIHS is more concerned about how quickly the system notices inattentiveness, and what it does about it.

Others have dinged BC in many comparisons because it doesn’t tell you it’s cut back to just cruise control, you have to watch the screen constantly. There is no audible or tactile feedback. That may be part of the issue.

I remember someone, perhaps consumer reports, only rated SC better than BC because of the light on the steering wheel which was easier to see.

 

[MBCook]

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a60175248/iihs-automated-driving-evaluation-results/

Way to go Tesla. And it seems like safety in an emergency (why doesn’t BC stop the car???) and notifying you of going back to cruise control were the biggies for Ford.

 

[geeklifer]

I would agree with their findings for the most part. It is nice every once in a while for longer trips to relax my arms and legs a bit, but obviously isn't self driving or something to rely heavily upon. I've noticed there is no feedback other than the small display when it switches back to hands-on also. If I'm concentrating on the screen, am I really paying attention to the road? It also doesn't give me nearly as many warnings or good quality of assistance in accident avoidance that my old Kia Niro does, and that doesn't have any kind of hands free cruise. I'm not really knocking it, because it do appreciate it's utility. It could just use some improvements.

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