I have a number of low-key automotive crusades that I keep slowly simmering on the stovetop of my addled brain, and one of those that has been cooking for a long time is the idea that, so far, no major automaker has produced a semi-automated driver-assist system that, when confronted with a driver that is not responding to prompts to keep alert or pay attention to the task of driving, manages to actually get out of an active traffic lane and stop safely on the side of a road. All systems up to this point, as far as I’m aware, simply turn on the hazard lights and come to a controlled stop in the active lane of traffic, which I feel is an awful idea.
I know a lot of people assume that current systems will do this already, but the truth is that they don’t. I’ve been hearing this for years, especially about Teslas, to the point where, back in 2021, I actually arranged for a Tesla Model 3 using Autopilot to test this theory and prove it, and, sure enough, when Autopilot finds the driver unresponsive to prompts to take the wheel, just comes to a stop right there in the road. It’s not great.
Of course, that was three years ago now; I checked Tesla’s online owner’s manual to see if this has changed for Autopilot or FSD, and it does not seem to be any different:
There’s no mention of changing lanes or getting off the road; it seems to be the same hazard lights, slow down and stop right there in the active traffic lane approach Tesla – and, really, every other carmaker – has been using since they started working with semi-automated driver assist systems. It was never good enough, and I’m always amazed this is considered just fine, because, really, it isn’t.
But now it seems there’s something different! A carmaker seems to have started to give a shit! I say this because I saw this video from Volkswagen, about the newest version of their Emergency Assist System:
Hot damn, look at that! This seems to be the first actual, clear, obvious reference to a driver assist system that deals with an unresponsive driver by actually getting the hell off the road.
The Emergency Assist System that VW is showing appears to be something that’s sort of an inverted Level 2-kind of system, a concept I’ve advocated for a while, where the driver is driving normally, in full control, but the car’s sensors and computers are watching all along, ready to step in if necessary. This is the opposite of other Level 2 systems like Tesla Autopilot or (Supervised) FSD, where the car is doing most of the driving task while the human driver watches (constantly, in theory, unfortunately often less so in practice), though the VW approach of getting the car off the damn road when the driver isn’t responding would work for either configuration.
This shouldn’t be confused with semi-automated cars’ ability to change lanes and get out of active traffic lanes as needed in the process of driving; for example, recently a Tesla using Autopilot saved a pedestrian by changing lanes into oncoming traffic and hitting another car, but avoiding the pedestrian:
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That’s impressive, but it’s not the same thing as this. That example up there was the car making an emergency lane change in response to a driving situation. The system VW showed was a planned set of automated lane changes that would bring the car to the road shoulder, then stop when an unresponsive driver was detected. Very different situations.
What I don’t get is why this has taken so long to implement; the technology to do this has been around for years, and while there are all sorts of conditions that could compromise this from working – poor lane markings, weather conditions, the presence of a viable shoulder or not and so many more – this is unquestionably something worth doing.
It looks like VW has been developing this system, surprisingly quietly, for a number of years; back in 2019 the VW Arteon, among other cars, had a similar system that would do some lane changing, at least getting into the slow lane, before stopping, even if not attempting to get off the road entirely.
The new Emergency Assist system takes this a good bit further. According to the video from VW, when the car suspects an unresponsive driver, from lack of steering input it seems, it taps the brakes and tightens the seatbelt in an attempt to shake the driver awake, all while making annoying beeps. Once it’s off the road, it unlocks the doors, turns on interior lights, and calls emergency services, a chain of actions that will either help save your life or contribute to you being really, really embarrassed. Possibly both.
But! The big point here is that this is the first time I’ve seen an OEM showing a car getting off the road and parking on the side of the road or on a shoulder in a controlled way, and this is a Very Big Deal. I really hope this is the start of what will become the industry standard for dealing with unresponsive drivers in every possible context, because this is how it should be done. No just stopping and hoping that whoever is cresting the hill on the highway at 75 mph will see you, this gets the car and the people in it out of harm’s way.
Good work, VW. Now, everyone else, start copying.
I have worked with these systems for many years and the really interesting thing here is that VW bases it on a L2 function.
As someone already commented, Mercedes has a similar solution, but that is for L3 and thus, strictly to conform with regulations.
What VW does is to make this solution part of an automation level where the driver is still in control. When we develop systems such as automated lane change, it always states in the fine print that the driver is always responsible to make sure that the lane change is possible and thus responsible for the system’s maneouvre.
So, It will be interesting to see what VW writes regarding who actually bears responsibility in case that the vehicle e.g. gets rear-ended while changing lanes.
This seems like a good idea. I especially like trying to shake the driver awake with the brakes and seatbelt.
What I’d like to see on these cars is some indicator on the outside of the car when it is self-driving. A little light on top, or a dunce cap that comes out of the roof, or some other signal to tell me to stay away from that car.
Mercedes Benz already has a solution for this, they covered it here last year.
Yeah that’s the stuff, though I prefer my dunce cap idea.
I always question when the video is showing an ideal situation how accurate it is? Clear as day probably has zero accuracy at night or in rain. Straight line one direction road? Has no frant facing cameras or abilities and can’t judge angles. Never trust anyone.
I’m torn on the whole autonomous driving thing. One one hand, if the driver must pay attention, what’s the point? On the other hand it can be safer. On another hand, if they don’t want to drive, why don’t they just use transportation that doesn’t require them to do drive?
I know SF has driverless taxi’s but I am skeptical we are going to be able to develop a car capable enough for intricacies of life. In a perfect scenario, I think driverless cars would work, but the world is far from perfect. It’s wildly unpredictable with an almost infinite number of scenarios to account for. I’m just picturing an orchestrated protest that exploits the fact autonomous cars will stop for people. By the time you make a segregated area for the cars to operate unhindered, we should have just made trains…
What problem are we trying to solve? Lazy people? Safety? Life has risks and is made up of humans, I’d rather the risk of driving come directly from other humans than by proxy via the software of internet connected vehicles that can and will be hacked. It seems we’re knowingly enabling an Orwellian state of driving just so only fans creators can post videos of themselves fucking each other while riding in their autonomous vehicle. Just bring back the bang bus…
“What problem are we trying to solve? Lazy people? Safety? Life has risks and is made up of humans, I’d rather the risk of driving come directly from other humans than by proxy via the software of internet connected vehicles that can and will be hacked”
So you fear the boogeyman of hackers to the well established dangers of DUIs, overconfident teenagers, street racers, road ragers, wavers of death, red light/stop sign runners, speeders, Jesus take the wheel! nutjobs, tailgaters, texters, etc?
Don’t most car eventually leave the road in the absence of driver input? Oh, you meant safely.
I was impressed by the seatbelt tug and brake tapping. That alone is a great idea.
The clip of that Tesla avoiding a pedestrian at the last second, in the description of that clip it says the driver did the lane change and it hasn’t been shown that Autopilot reacted at all
Cool tech but was that a golf R wagon? And can I have it?
Yep, Golf R long roof. The long roof R, and the tech covered in the article are awesome but if you live in the USA you cannot have any of it. Unfortunately that means I cannot have it either, though I would gladly pay the premium VW would charge if it were available here. I cannot understand VWOA marketing, they sell the current (USA version) R in one configuration only without any true optional equipment, and in three colors only, those being Blue, White or Black, where the GTI has some options and other colors available. If they brought the long roof R here and VWOA followed current marketing strategy, it might be available only in colors such as feces brown, pickle green, or pink lemonade. Happens I am looking to replace my current car with a ’25 Golf R or an Audi S3 (no long roof and not even a hot hatch for the latter). The Audi will cost about $10k more than the R, but at least I will have some options for equipment and color. Depreciation on the S3 will be much higher than the R, so I will wait for the arrival of the ’25 R and hope for a more broad color pallet.
Maybe VW can save themselves by quickly spreading this across their models and aggressively marketing to older drivers. Hell, it could even be a boon to those with medical conditions which preclude them from driving
Yeah, this would be absolutely huge for people like my friend who suffers from seizures. Which also makes him expensive to insure and makes it difficult to get a license.
My first thought when I saw this was someone is going to get shot for their car brake checking traffic in an attempt to wake the driver up.