A top “Good” rating will require a driver monitoring system that checks both a driver’s gaze and hand position. A driver with a coffee in one hand and an iPhone in the other won’t be prepared to retake the wheel. Other criteria include escalating visual, audible or haptic alerts to get a driver’s attention, and a fail-safe procedure to safely slow or halt the vehicle if the system is misused or to aid an incapacitated driver. (Super Cruise and some similar systems integrate many of those features.) The I.I.H.S. prefers that systems have drivers initiate any automated lane changes to keep them engaged in the process.
One early study, though, points to potential barriers for driver-assisted tech to achieve that “Good” rating. The recent shortage of chips has made it harder for the I.I.H.S. to gather and test relatively newfangled cars and has forced G.M. to temporarily halt installation of Super Cruise. Nonetheless, in a 2020 collaborative survey with M.I.T., the I.I.H.S. found that Volvo S90’s system (which lacks driver monitoring) led subjects to drive faster, look away more often and use more hand-held devices, signs of potential driver inattention.
In Germany, Mercedes has begun pushing boundaries with its new Drive Pilot, which legally allows a driver to perform nondriving tasks — checking email, even watching a movie — but monitors the driver and alerts when to retake the wheel. I.I.H.S. divides these sorts of systems into levels of automation, from zero (no automation) to five (full automation). Experts see Level 3 (some automation, but with a driver at the ready) as the diciest of the levels, a limbo zone compared with Level 5 cars that are truly robotic. For now, Drive Pilot can operate only on certain highways at speeds up to 37 miles per hour. Mercedes is seeking certification to offer the system in the United States next year.
Taking a different approach in marketing, G.M. and other companies have begun downplaying safety gains and citing reduced driver workloads, especially in wearying commutes and traffic.
“Owners feel more refreshed, they feel more relaxed, yet they are still attentive,” Mario Maiorana, the chief engineer at Super Cruise, said.
G.M. engineers say that safe and responsible deployment has guided every decision, including a delayed Super Cruise rollout in 2017, even as the company faced mounting criticism for not keeping pace with Tesla’s Autopilot.
The next test is G.M.’s Ultra Cruise, which the company intends to debut on the Cadillac Celestiq, a six-figure electric flagship sedan, late next year. The system is designed to ultimately deliver hands-free driving on 3.2 million miles of roadway — nearly every inch of paved road in the United States and Canada.