UN working party cautious on driving features that blur the lines between human and automated driving
Cars with ‘Level 2’ driver assistance systems will be able to be operated ‘hands-off’ and allow lane changes initiated by the system when the driver has their hands on the wheel – but these features will only be allowed on motorways for now. That was the conclusion of the latest discussions in the UN working party on automated vehicles in Geneva earlier this month.
The UNECE sets certain vehicle safety standards that are applied in several markets, including the European Union, the UK and Japan (but not the United States in the case of assisted driving). Carmakers have been putting considerable pressure to allow hands-off operation, first only on motorways, and fully automated lane changes on all types of roads for Level 2 vehicles, despite a lack of evidence that this will improve safety.
ETSC has raised concerns about the danger of blurred lines between human and computer control of cars for several years. Drivers remain fully responsible for crashes in Level 2 vehicles as they are considered to ultimately be in control of the vehicle, even though such systems often result in disengagement with the driving task, with lethal consequences when the systems fail.
In the United States, where a version of Tesla’s Level 2 Autopilot software known as FSD (full self-driving) is already operating on thousands of vehicles, regulators are investigating hundreds of crashes that maybe linked to the system’s failure to recognise and respond to predictable situations – such as stopped vehicles on highways, or emergency vehicles parked across two lanes. Another Level 2 system from Ford, known as Blue Cruise, is also under investigation. It is highly likely that crashes are also occurring in the EU and the UK involving Level 2 systems – but there is no public reporting requirement for vehicles with such systems already on the EU market, unlike in the US. Local police forces often lack the technical knowledge to access and analyse vehicle data to understand the role of these features in crashes.
Several country representatives at the UNECE, from the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and the UK have raised questions about the safety of hands-off systems and fully automated lane changes – and are seeking more data before discussions on allowing the features to be used in combination resume.
Frank Mütze, ETSC’s automation specialist commented :
“Although driver monitoring requirements have been strengthened, we still have to see whether they are sufficient in real world driving. US research has shown that drivers quickly learned to circumvent the previous generation of driver monitoring systems. The risks resulting from mind wandering and automation surprises — where the vehicle does something that the driver does not expect — remain.
“It would therefore be highly irresponsible for Europe to allow this technology, without evidence that it is safe. As of today, we have no data on European crashes involving assisted driving features, and there is no mandatory reporting for vehicles with such systems already on the road, so we do not even have a clear picture of the current situation let alone allowing more features that blur the lines between human and computer driving. Europe urgently needs an agency along the lines of NHTSA in the United States – with the power to require incident reporting, investigate crashes and issue recalls.
“It looks like the UNECE is sensibly going to pause the rollout of these features, at least on non-motorway roads. With a lack of evidence for safety, and many concerns about new risks, we would have preferred a full ban for the time being. But restricting the technology to motorways is better than allowing it everywhere.”
Meanwhile, Switzerland is the latest country to allow Level 3 automated driving, where the vehicle is in full control under certain circumstances on motorways. So far Mercedes-Benz has been at the forefront of this level of automated driving. Its Drive Pilot technology, available on two top-of-the-range models, will soon be able to drive at speeds of up to 95 km/h on German motorways.