Car Technology Trends and Issues

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is working to put a law into effect that would get drunk drivers off the road. 

The agency wants to put alcohol-detection technology in all new passenger vehicles. In preventing drunk and impaired driving, the efforts would effectively save thousands of lives across the country. 

“It is tragic that drunk driving crashes are one of the leading causes of roadway fatalities in this country and far too many lives are lost,” said Polly Trottenberg, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. “The Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking we are announcing today is the first step toward a new safety standard requiring alcohol-impaired-driving prevention technology in new passenger vehicles.” 

Taking the first steps

As Trottenberg explained, the NHTSA has submitted an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to implement alcohol-detecting technology into passenger vehicles. This is the first step required to eventually have the rule turned into federal law. 

According to the Advanced Notice that NHTSA submitted, there is a great opportunity to make lasting change across the country with more widespread implementation of this technology. 

However, the agency also pointed out some of the current roadblocks. The current technology isn’t designed for drunk and impaired driving detection; there are issues differentiating between varying states of impairment; false positives and general immaturity of the technology. 

With all of this in mind, NHTSA has identified new technologies that could be improved upon to work in these specific cases, including monitoring systems that would prevent drivers from shifting their cars into gear if they're over the legal alcohol limit. 

The goal now is to get as much insight into the available technologies as possible and determine if such features could be implemented into cars on such a large scale. This process – of the proposed rule becoming a law – can take several years. 

The official submission goes into great detail on the country’s history with drunk driving, the definition of impaired driving, current efforts to curtail drunk driving, and more. 

A nationwide problem

The announcement of the new rule comes during December, which has been dubbed National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. According to NHTSA’s data, drunk and impaired driving is a nationwide problem on several levels. 

The agency estimated that alcohol-related injuries, fatalities, and property damage cost the U.S. roughly $280 billion per year. 

On top of that, the number of lives lost as a result of drunk driving continues to be a cause for concern. The most current data comes from 2021, a year in which over 13,300 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a Standing General Order that requires manufacturers and drivers to report serious accidents to the agency if the vehicle is “equipped with SAE Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) or SAE Levels 3-5 automated driving systems (ADS).”

The agency is taking this action after a number of accidents involving Teslas in which the cars’ Autopilot system was engaged. Tesla has repeatedly warned drivers that the system is not designed for autonomous driving and that both hands must be kept on the wheel at all times.

By collecting information about these accidents NHTSA said it can maintain a database of incidents and their causes and the role if any, a driver-assist technology played in accidents.

“NHTSA’s core mission is safety. By mandating crash reporting, the agency will have access to critical data that will help quickly identify safety issues that could emerge in these automated systems,” said Dr. Steven Cliff, NHTSA’s acting administrator. “In fact, gathering data will help instill public confidence that the federal government is closely overseeing the safety of automated vehicles.” 

Report within 24 hours

Under the new order, operators, manufacturers, and law enforcement must report within a day when there’s a serious accident involving a driver-assist vehicle. Specifically, it applies to “a Level 2 ADAS or Levels 3-5 ADS-equipped vehicle that also involves a hospital-treated injury, a fatality, a vehicle tow-away, an airbag deployment, or a vulnerable road user such as a pedestrian or bicyclist.”

A wide range of vehicles will fall under the order. Level 2 ADAS is an increasingly common feature on many new vehicles and provides driver assist functions that combine technologies, like lane-centering assistance and adaptive cruise control, where the vehicle is able to control certain aspects of steering and speed. 

ADS-equipped vehicles, which are able to perform the complete driving task in limited circumstances, are not currently sold to consumers but are in limited use on public roads around the country for testing, ride-sharing, and goods delivery.

Arizona accident

In 2018, a self-driving Uberstruck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona. A subsequent investigation determined the vehicle’s sensors saw the pedestrian but did not take action to avoid the collision.

By collecting data on all serious accidents involving cars equipped with driver-assist technology, NHTSA said it will help it identify potential safety issues and impacts resulting from the operation of advanced technologies on public roads and increase transparency. 

The agency also said access to ADS data may show whether there are common patterns in driverless vehicle crashes or systematic problems in operation as these vehicles come into wider use.

A survey of drivers by Esurance finds in-car technology features designed to promote safety aren't reducing distracted driving. In fact, in some cases it may contribute to it.

The company says the survey revealed two key pieces of data. First, most drivers are aware that using phones and GPS while driving is distracting. Second, they're willing to do it anyway. Fifty-eight percent of drivers admitted to some level of distracted driving, in many cases texting or navigating while driving.

Stephanie Braun, director of the connected car department at Esurance, says drivers are finding the lure of technology features in their vehicles hard to ignore.

"We're seeing more automakers try to address the issue of distracted driving through semi-autonomous features, but we're also mindful of the fact that some of these features could distract drivers even more and often give drivers a false sense of security," Braun said.

Technology to assist the driver

In the last decade, many carmakers have added semi-autonomous technology features to their vehicles that can do some of the driving. In some cases, these features can recognize and respond to impending road hazards before the driver can.

While nearly half the drivers in the survey who have these features believe they are a good thing, about 10 percent believe they are not. The survey found that 25 percent of drivers who purchased new cars with this technology in mind later disabled at least one feature.

The survey actually found that drivers with cars equipped with the latest technology safety features tend to be slightly more distracted than drivers without it. Nearly a third complained that the warning sounds the features make are themselves a distraction.

Limits of driver-assist technology

As the industry moves toward fully autonomous vehicles, some cars available today have what are known as “driver-assist” features. In May 2016, the driver of a Tesla Model S was killed when his car slammed into a truck.

An investigation revealed the car was in autopilot mode at the time of the accident, but that the driver was distracted and not in control of the vehicle at the time of the accident.

Tesla has stressed that its autopilot feature is not meant to be used to fully control the car and that drivers should remain alert and keep both hands on the wheel.

The auto industry is proceeding at full speed toward development of fully autonomous vehicles, but the Esurance survey finds today's drivers aren't that enthusiastic. It found only 17 percent of drivers would be willing to give up control of the vehicle in order to engage in other activities behind the wheel.