Is Lane Assistance Dangerous?

Motorists worldwide are entering a new error, with driving assistance technology coming to the forefront. An estimation by the Highway Loss Data Institute suggests that more than half of all vehicles on the roadways will include Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), including lane assistance by 2027. In 2022, about 25% of vehicles on the roadway had lane departure warning systems and nine percent included lane assistance technology. But is lane assistance a worthwhile safety feature, or can it make driving more dangerous?

How Does Lane Assistance Work?

A lane assistance system is an ADAS safety feature intended to promote safety by gently steering a vehicle back into a lane if the driver begins to depart from the lane. The system is typically installed behind the car’s rearview mirror and uses cameras, sensors, and sometimes lasers. The system uses the road’s white or yellow line lane markers as boundaries. Then, it accesses the vehicle’s steering system to guide it back into a lane if the driver accidentally strays. Most lane assistance technology only works when the driver exceeds 30-35 miles per hour.

Does Lane Assistance Do More Harm Than Good?

A recent AAA automotive research study revealed that today’s lane assistance systems are substantially less than dependable, and may do more to interfere with driving than to assist the driver in a positive way. In fact, the study found that lane departure programs are the least helpful of all their tested ADAS systems. An alarming 73% of all reported ADAS performance problems were related to lane assistance technology. AAA researchers drove a total of 4,000 miles during the study using various automobiles with lane assistance technology and found that the systems caused a negative issue an average of every 8 miles driven.

Many studies have also noted issues that seem to make lane assistance counterproductive. Commonly cited problems include the following:

• Problems keeping the vehicles in their lane
• Navigating too close to other vehicles
• Driving dangerously close to guardrails
• Software glitches and malfunctions
• “Confusion” in areas with multiple lane-marker lines or faded lines
• Slowing down the vehicle at awkward times in response to perceived lane departures
• Resisting driver input, including in dangerous situations such as a driver’s attempt to give a wide birth to a cyclist
• System failures due to weather or light conditions, including when snow obscures lane dividers or the glare of bright sunlight makes the sensors ineffective
• Problems on rural roads when lane assistance technology may guide a vehicle toward the center of the road

Researchers in the AAA study agree that lane assistance and other ADAS technologies fail to perform consistently and at their current stage of development they do not enhance a driver’s experience on the road and may instead interfere.

How Can a Car Accident Attorney In Washington Help?

When lane assistance technology malfunctions or interferes with a driver’s ability to control their vehicle, the result could be a car accident or collision with a pedestrian. Depending on the circumstances of the case, an injury victim could recover compensation for damages like their medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering through a defective product liability claim against a manufacturer due to a design defect, manufacturing error, or marketing mistake.

Call the Kent car accident attorneys at Caffee Accident and Injury Lawyers today so we can evaluate your case and determine the best way forward.