With an estimated 800,000 vehicle collisions and more than 12,000 road deaths each year, South Africa has a reputation for being among the most dangerous countries for road travel. With the advancement of tech in cars nowadays, driving is becoming safer and more enjoyable.
Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) include a range of technologies that are meant to help you avoid collisions or assist you with elements such as night vision, driver alertness, and adaptive cruise control. Features like lane departure warnings, adaptive cruise control, and collision avoidance help you avoid accidents and relieve some of the stresses of driving.
These features are becoming standard in many luxury vehicles sold in South Africa and are increasingly common in mid-range cars. “Some ADAS features will soon become mandatory in markets such as the European Union, though similar laws aren’t on the cards for South Africa yet,” says Ernest North, co-founder at the fully digital insurance platform, Naked.
“If you use the ADAS features in your car to improve your situational awareness and to reduce discomfort and fatigue as you drive, it should enable you to drive more safely,” says North. “ADAS could help you to avoid an accident altogether or reduce its severity if you encounter a dangerous situation on the road.”
Eight of the common ADAS features in cars today
ADAS uses tech like advanced systems-on-chip, digital cameras, sensors and software algorithms to detect obstacles or driver errors, and respond accordingly. A few examples of the most common ADAS features and what these technologies can do today, include:
- Adaptive cruise control — maintains a set speed and automatically adjusts the vehicle’s speed to keep a safe following distance.
- Automatic high beams — switches your headlights on and off for you, adjusting automatically to light up the road while avoiding blinding drivers in upcoming cars.
- Automatic emergency braking — uses sensors to detect potential collisions and automatically apply the brakes if the driver does not respond in time.
- Lane departure warning and lane keeping assist — alerts the driver if the vehicle is drifting out of its lane or even helps steer the vehicle back into the correct lane.
- Blind spot monitoring — uses sensors to detect vehicles in the driver’s blind spots and provides visual or audible alerts when attempting to change lanes.
- Traffic sign recognition — helps you spot and follow traffic signs.
- Automatic or assisted parking — takes over control of parking functions, including steering, braking, and acceleration, to assist drivers in parking in tight spots.
- Pre-collision system — prevents crashes by alerting you and braking if needed.
ADAS is still a premium feature, but is becoming mainstream fast
Whether you’re navigating through the mean streets of the city or enjoying a road trip through the Karoo, having a car equipped with ADAS is like having a trusted co-pilot. The availability of these advanced features varies by model and still comes at an additional cost.
North says that as ADAS features become more mainstream they could potentially help to bring insurance premiums down for everyone by reducing the number of accidents and hence claims. Blind spot detection and automatic parking systems, for example, could help to reduce small bumper bashings and parking lot collisions that account for a significant portion of claims.
On the downside, like all the other expensive infotainment and onboard electronic systems in a modern car, ADAS tech can be expensive to repair if you are in a collision — which means that the cost of claims is higher. “But overall, ADAS is worth your consideration,” says North. “It can help you drive more safely, meaning that you’ll have a lower risk profile and potentially lower premiums.”
The future of driving
Artificial intelligence (AI) features are becoming more mature and common in cars, with the latest high-end electric vehicles leading the way. Some luxury cars, for example, include virtual assistants that allow for hands-free climate and entertainment system control using your voice. AI and machine learning can also be used for battery management, adaptive suspension and collision avoidance.
“The end game is the move towards the autonomous, or self-driving car, however, the autonomous car still faces many regulatory, infrastructural and technological hurdles,” says North. “For now, we believe that the more South Africans get behind the wheel of cars with ADAS features, the safer our roads will become.”
