Today’s cars come with numerous sensors and computer systems designed to reduce crashes by assisting drivers with tasks like steering and speed control. However, these Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) also pose certain dangers, particularly when drivers disengage them or become overreliant on them. Furthermore, their very nature creates unique legal challenges in determining liability for a collision. Here’s what you need to know about how these advanced systems could affect your car accident claim.
Understanding Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)
The ADAS in many modern vehicles can help drivers recognize and react to emergencies such as imminent collisions or lane departures. Some systems can also intervene and provide braking, acceleration, or steering inputs if the driver fails to correct to avoid a potential crash. While ADAS has varying capabilities depending on the vehicle manufacturer, some of the most advanced systems can give the impression that the car drives itself. However, all ADAS on the market today require the driver to remain focused and ready to assume complete control over the vehicle.
How Different Types of ADAS Improve Safety
Today, many models of vehicles come standard with ADAS technology that, until recently, buyers could only find in high-end luxury vehicles. The widespread adoption of ADAS by vehicle manufacturers has improved automotive safety by preventing some accidents. Some of the most common types of ADAS technology found in new vehicles include:
- Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC): Adaptive cruise control systems offer an advancement over traditional cruise control systems by increasing or reducing the vehicle’s speed in response to traffic around the vehicle. When drivers activate their vehicle’s ACC, they can set a preferred following distance from the vehicle ahead. The ACC can brake or slow the vehicle if the vehicle ahead slows down and accelerate when the vehicle ahead speeds back up. ACC can improve safety by controlling the vehicle’s speed in variable traffic, reducing stress and strain on the driver during long road trips.
- Lane Departure Warning & Lane Keeping Assist (LDW & LKA): Lane departure warning and lane keeping assist systems help drivers avoid drifting out of their traffic lane. Lane departure warnings provide audible, visual, or tactile (e.g., vibrating the steering wheel) warnings when the vehicle approaches a road line, alerting the driver to correct the vehicle’s course. Vehicles with lane-keeping assist systems can provide gentle steering to keep the vehicle in the traffic lane when a driver does not intervene in response to a lane departure warning. LDW/LKA systems help prevent sideswipe, road departure, guardrail, and head-on collisions.
- Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB): Automatic emergency braking systems, typically accompanied by forward collision warning systems, apply a vehicle’s brakes when the collision warning sensors detect an imminent collision without any braking or steering input by the driver to avoid the collision. AEB systems can also apply additional braking force when the driver depresses the brake pedal as needed to prevent a collision. AEB can prevent rear-end or pedestrian collisions.
- Blind Spot Detection: Blind spot detection systems use sensors along a vehicle’s side to detect other vehicles in or entering the driver’s blind spot. Most commonly, blind spot monitoring systems may activate a light on the side mirror when they detect a vehicle in the blind spot. When a driver activates their turn signal or turns the steering wheel to change lanes, some blind spot systems can provide audible or tactile warnings or corrective steering inputs to prevent the driver from entering a lane occupied by another vehicle.
- Parking Assistance & Rear-View Cameras: Parking assistance systems, which include proximity sensors and video cameras, help drivers enter and exit parking spots or driveways. Today, all new vehicles sold in the U.S. must have rear-view cameras. Many vehicles also have side or front cameras or systems that can stitch camera angles together to provide a 360-degree view of the vehicle.
The Impact of ADAS on Liability in Car Accidents
Although many types of ADAS can make driving easier and safer, they do not obviate a driver’s responsibility to pay attention and operate their vehicle carefully. As a result, ADAS can complicate the determination of liability for a crash as follows:
- Driver Liability: Following a collision involving a car with ADAS, investigators may need to determine whether the driver disregarded their vehicle’s ADAS warnings or disabled the system. A driver may bear fault for a car accident if they turned off their vehicle’s ADAS or ignored warnings of an imminent emergency or collision.
- Manufacturer Liability: A vehicle manufacturer might be liable when a vehicle’s ADAS malfunctions, either by not operating when expected or by providing unintended and unnecessary braking, acceleration, and steering inputs. Design or manufacturing defects, including defects in the ADAS’s computer code, may also result in manufacturers bearing responsibility for car accidents.
- Insurer Considerations: The insurance company might delay or deny accident claims in cases involving allegations of malfunctioning ADAS, arguing that their policyholder should not bear fault for the car crash.
Are Vehicles Equipped with ADAS The Same as Autonomous Driving Vehicles?
ADAS technology can handle many tedious or continuous driving tasks, such as maintaining vehicle speed or intervening when the vehicle senses an emergency. However, even the most advanced ADAS today has yet to rise to the level of autonomous driving. Highly advanced driver assistance systems like Autopilot, Super Cruise, or Blue Cruise require the driver to maintain focus on the road and stay ready to resume manual vehicle control at a moment’s notice. Truly autonomous driving vehicles do not require human intervention, as the vehicle’s systems should handle emergencies as well as or better than a human driver under all conditions the vehicle may experience (such as low lighting, inclement weather, and inadequate road markings.). Such autonomous driving vehicles today remain in the prototyping and testing stages.
Contact Our Alabama Car Accident Lawyers for Help
Hurt in a crash involving a malfunctioning or ignored advanced driver assistance system? Then get the legal help you need to pursue fair compensation from everyone who could be to blame for the collision. Contact Stokes Stemle LLC today for a free, no-obligation consultation with our Alabama car accident attorneys to discuss the legal implications of ADAS on your injury claim.
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