Emerging Issues

The emergence of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) has important implications for young driver safety. ADAS are systems that use a variety of sensors, software technology and safety features working together to assist drivers with certain driving tasks (e.g., staying in the lane, parking, avoiding crashes, reducing blind spots). They have become standard on new vehicles and are intended to increase driver safety but do not perform the driving function. The driver must remain fully engaged in the driving task at all times. A driver should drive as if they do not have the technology and allow these safety features to back them up when needed. 

ADAS features have the potential to reduce young driver crashes. However, to date, very little research has been conducted with this population. One small scale naturalistic study found teens with ADAS warning systems had fewer lane departures and more turn signal use, but they were more likely to leave less following distance between vehicles (Jermakian et al., 2017). Another study found forward collision warning systems had the biggest benefit to drivers under 25 years old measured by the frequency in property damage liability and bodily injury liability claims (HLDI, 2015). 

ADAS also has implications for driver training and testing. As the role of the driver changes from manual control of the vehicle to more supervisory control, driver education programs will need to be updated to teach drivers to safely operate vehicles with ADAS (Manser et al., 2019). In addition, it will be necessary to update driver testing to make sure young drivers both understand the functions and limitations of ADAS and are prepared to intervene when ADAS fails or the vehicle is asked to perform outside its operational design domain (AAMVA, 2019).