Anyone who has driven a modern vehicle equipped with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) will know that the operation of some autonomous technologies can occasionally be crude, bordering on counter-productive.

There’s no doubt that the ever-expanding group of systems that fall under the ADAS umbrella are life-saving – including the likes of autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and lane departure warning – but there can be significant variations in their effectiveness and smoothness of operation, from one vehicle brand to the next.

Incessant and distracting warning alerts and clunky automated inputs to braking and steering are among the less favourable aspects of these technologies, with independent safety body ANCAP (Australasian New Car Assessment Program) undertaking a new pilot study on the real-world driver experience and usability of lane support systems.

ANCAP’s latest research project is designed to intentionally capture the steering force, intervention timing, and correction severity of Lane Keep Assist (LKA) and Emergency Lane Keeping (ELK) on vehicles already star-rated.

This additional layer of examination looks beyond a vehicle’s ability to intervene and prevent unintentional sideswipe, head-on or run-off-road crashes to instead focus on the sophistication and integration quality of lane support systems (LSS).

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A range of vehicle brands and models will be tested as part of the study, which ANCAP says has been initiated as a result of consumer feedback that the safety systems fitted to their new cars are providing an adverse driver experience.

A pilot group of vehicles have been put through their paces against a baseline ‘positive reference’ vehicle, with early insights showing clear room for improvement, according to ANCAP.

Aspects studied during the research program include:

• Vehicle path and position: Is the autonomous intervention smooth and intuitive?
• Steering angle and velocity: Is the intervention response exhibited through gradual change or are there rapid, sharp, unnecessary or jerky steering inputs?
• Steering torque: Is the vehicle’s response difficult for the driver to override, leading to a feeling of loss of control?
• Lateral vehicle acceleration: Is the sideways force experienced by the driver severe and unnatural?

“This research project is a proactive step ANCAP has taken to help vehicle manufacturers improve the functionality, calibration and integration of their active safety systems,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg.

“Good system design and properly tuned systems are critical to consumer acceptance, and the aspects we’ve examined with this research are those that manufacturers should already be factoring into their systems.

“The pilot group of vehicle models we’ve assessed has been assembled from direct consumer feedback, where a specific list of models were identified as offering a fairly rudimentary response.

“Unfortunately, the behaviour of these vehicles is having consumers question the benefits of these systems, and in some cases, turn them off.

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“What we want to demonstrate are the differences in vehicle behaviour, and by sharing these results, encourage manufacturers to improve their systems. This will in turn improve the acceptance of these systems by their customers.”

Results of this pilot project will be shared with manufacturers and used to inform refinements to ANCAP’s upcoming 2026-28 test protocols and criteria.

Additional vehicle models will be examined against the same research criteria over the course of the year, with full results to be released once the broad program of work is complete.