An ADAS Feature Rating System: Proposing a New Industry Standard

More than 90% of new vehicles include Advanced Driving Assistance Systems that offer features such as Lane Keep Assist and Adaptive Cruise Control [1]. These ever-improving vehicle systems present a great opportunity to increase driving safety and reduce the number of roadway deaths and injuries. Indeed, they are already having a positive effect. However, the wide variety of features offered in the marketplace can be confusing to consumers, who may not clearly understand their vehicles’ true capabilities and limitations, or have an easy way of comparing system performance between vehicle models. This lack of information has the potential to reduce the safety gains of ADAS features by increasing the risk of improper use. To encourage transparency in the marketplace and thus engender the maximum positive effect of ADAS technologies, this paper proposes a five-level rating system, which utilizes diamonds to denote significant milestone achievements in vehicle system performance. The rating charts resulting from this system describe gradients of performance within criteria addressed by certain foundational ADAS features. Presented here in its initial stage of development, this rating system will require continued refinement. We therefore encourage the community of automotive safety organizations to take up the mantle by establishing and performing test protocols for assigning standardized ADAS feature performance ratings. We believe that the result of this effort, a common method for understanding and comparing ADAS performance, promises to deliver a beneficial level of clarity to the industry and consumers.