ADAS alerts are irritating drivers, some of whom react by turning the systems off. That’s according to the 2019 J.D. Power Tech Experience Index study. What’s more, respondents told J.D. Power they’re inclined to avoid the systems in future vehicle purchases.
One driver described his irritation with a new car’s parking assistant: “In slow rush-hour city traffic, the damn thing won’t stop ‘helpfully’ trying to direct my attention to what it thinks is a parking spot. Every time there’s a gap between parked cars to my right, even if it’s a driveway, the system pokes at me. ‘Hey, look over there, there’s a parking space’. It’s distracting and aggravating and I hate it, and I have to disable it each and every time I get in the car. Never again; my next car will NOT have this.”
Kristin Kolodge, J.D. Power’s executive director of driver interaction and HMI, says “Automakers are spending lots of money on advanced technology development, but the constant alerts can confuse and frustrate drivers. The technology can come across as a nagging parent. No one wants to be constantly told they aren’t driving correctly.”
Lanekeeping assist, for example, tends to annoy an average of 23% of drivers with equipped vehicles. Brand by brand, the results vary with up to 30% of owners finding the alerts a nuisance. Of drivers who don’t like the alerts, 61% disable the systems at least sometimes.
Collision-avoidance systems such as Automatic Emergency Braking garnered the most favourable reactions from owners. Smartphone mirroring came second, followed by comfort and convenience features such as voice recognition. Entertainment and connectivity such as linking phones and Bluetooth placed fourth, followed by driving assistance such as blind spot detection or lane keeping systems. Navigation finished last.
The survey included over 16,400 responses from people who bought or leased a 2019 vehicle of a model launched or redesigned within the past three years.
