Driver Assistance Systems in Cars

I drove a van with quite a few driver-assistance systems for a while. I actually thought the lane-keeping assist and automatic emergency braking were great, but as you already wrote, they do have their quirks. Roadworks on the highway and a jumble of lines on the road — a complete KO for the lane-keeping assist.

What really annoyed me was this: You’re driving uphill. At the crest of the hill, there’s a large highway sign above the road. My automatic emergency braking hit the brakes so often there — it was awful. But these are surely problems that can be fixed.

Touchscreens also belong in this category. Endless menu clicking to adjust a function that used to have a simple switch. You often have to click through the endless menus to disable particularly annoying assistants (in my case, it was the crosswind assist). The next time you start the vehicle, it’s active again.

The crosswind assist in that van was simply too sluggish. I notice, oh, there’s a crosswind, and instinctively steer against it. At the same moment, the assist does the same, and you nearly shave the mirror off the truck you’re overtaking.

In my opinion, the most useful assist is the turn assist, which the van didn’t have, though. Maybe I wouldn’t have given that cyclist such a fright when turning back then — I really didn’t see him, even though I practically contorted myself inside the car. I heard him. Nothing happened ... but it could have ended much worse.

The bit about the motorway sign above the crest sounds like the classic case of “technically detected correctly, yet completely off the mark.” If the car brakes hard several times in the process, the safety benefit quickly disappears too – the driver behind will presumably be especially grateful.

I’m happy to let the lane-keeping assist work on long, well-marked stretches. In roadworks, in snow, or when old and new lane markings are visible at the same time, I see it more as an additional observer than a help. What I consider important is that you can actually switch it off with the press of a button, rather than having to navigate through four submenu levels first.

I see it similarly with touchscreens: Fine for navigation and music, but the heating, windscreen wipers, and assistance systems should be operable directly and without looking. Searching through a menu while driving for “Steering assistance, Safety submenu, page 3” is really no progress at all. That quickly turns assistance into busywork.

In the end, responsibility remains with the driver, of course. But manufacturers can’t completely wash their hands of the matter. If a system regularly brakes for no reason or steers erratically, it will eventually be ignored or permanently switched off – and then no one benefits. I’d be interested to know whether anyone has had a car where the sensitivity of the driver-assistance systems could be adjusted sensibly, rather than there being only an on or off setting.

…having to navigate through menus. Especially when an assistant suddenly steers against you or brakes in a construction zone, I don’t want to have to search through the submenu “Vehicle – Safety – Intelligent Assistance – Maybe” first. A real button would almost be a luxury.

As far as responsibility is concerned, the driver is still responsible in my view, but the manufacturer is responsible for clearly understandable limits and error responses that are as gentle as possible. I’d rather have a warning or a brief chime than full braking because of a sign on the crest of a hill. How is it for you: Does your car save the deactivations permanently, or do you have to dismiss them again every time you start the car?