On March 12, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released results of testing on 14 partial driving automation systems from various global OEMs.
While only one earned an acceptable rating, two were rated marginal, and 11 were rated poor.
“We evaluated partial automation systems from BMW, Ford, General Motors, Genesis, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Tesla and Volvo,” IIHS President David Harkey said. “Most of them don’t include adequate measures to prevent misuse and keep drivers from losing focus on what’s happening on the road.”
The Teammate system available on the Lexus LS is the only system tested that earned an acceptable rating.
The GMC Sierra and Nissan Ariya are both available with partial automation systems that earned marginal ratings.
The Lexus LS and Nissan Ariya each offer an alternative system that earned a poor rating.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E, Genesis G90, Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan, Tesla Model 3 and Volvo S90 also earned poor ratings, in some cases for more than one version of partial automation.
“The shortcomings vary from system to system,” said IIHS Senior Research Scientist Alexandra Mueller. “Many vehicles don’t adequately monitor whether the driver is looking at the road or prepared to take control. Many lack attention reminders that come soon enough and are forceful enough to rouse a driver whose mind is wandering. Many can be used despite occupants being unbelted or when other vital safety features are switched off.”
The new IIHS ratings aim to encourage safeguards that can help reduce intentional misuse and prolonged attention lapses as well as to discourage certain design characteristics that increase risk in other ways.
(IIHS press release on March 12, 2024) (Detroit News article on March 12, 2024)
