2023-10-26 13:01:09
Accident experts warn against letting go of the wheel
The car drives independently, the driver becomes a passenger: The Federal Council wants to enable automated driving in Switzerland. But with new freedom comes new risks.
Your hands still have to stay on the wheel. The Federal Council now wants to change that.
Photo: Martin Rütschi (Keystone)
A weekday morning, heavy traffic on the highway, increased caution is required. But the VW driver is relaxed, he surfs the Internet, drinks a coffee – his car drives itself.
The dream of autonomous driving: Another step into this future has been taken. Last week, the Federal Council opened consultations on two regulations, with which he wants to regulate automated driving. Such cars, he argues, could not only improve traffic flow and make traffic more ecological, but also bring greater road safety.
Assistance systems prevent accidents
Partially automated operation of vehicles is already permitted. There are now numerous assistance systems that support drivers, such as parking or emergency braking assistants. This corresponds to level 2 of automated driving.
Accident experts recognize the potential of these techniques. “Modern, safety-relevant instruments can prevent accidents,” says Christoph Leibundgut, spokesman for the Advisory Center for Accident Prevention (BFU). For example, by monitoring the vehicle’s surroundings and reacting immediately if necessary, for example with emergency braking that would prevent a serious collision.
That is why the BFU already recommends not switching off safety-relevant driver assistance systems. According to the BFU, 95 percent of all traffic accidents are due to human error. And around half of serious accidents could already be avoided if all vehicles were equipped with modern driver assistance systems.
“Wrong reactions” possible
Now the Federal Council wants to allow automation level 3. This means that drivers will be able to let go of the steering wheel in the future. At the same time, however, they must be able to “operate the vehicle themselves again at any time,” as the draft regulation states.
However, this intermediate stage to fully automated driving entails “new risks”, especially in time-critical situations, as the BFU explains. Why? Scientific studies show that people need several seconds – typically four to six – to react appropriately to the driving situation. And it takes even longer if the driver is distracted, for example because he is reading. “If he has less time to control the vehicle himself again, there is a risk of incorrect reactions,” says BFU spokesman Leibundgut. It is conceivable that the driver could become frightened and oversteer.
The accident insurer Suva sees it like the BFU: Automated driving offers the long-term opportunity to increase road safety and prevent accidents. “On the way there are also risks in the short and medium term that need to be addressed,” says Suva spokeswoman Simone Isermann. “Automated driving must not lead to additional accidents, whether due to people or technology.”
“Lifelong learning is finally becoming a requirement for drivers.”
Driving instructors also have concerns. Michael Gehrken, President of the Swiss Driving Instructors Association L-Drive Switzerland, speaks of “major risks” for road safety that the transition process to fully automated driving poses. “With every innovation we will have an enormous need for training.”
The coexistence of different levels of automation will hardly make everyday traffic easier. “Lifelong learning,” says Gehrken, “will finally become an obligation for drivers.”
The limits of Mercedes’ “Drive Pilot”
Gehrken suggests: This transition will take time. No level 3 automated driving system has yet been approved in Switzerland. In Europe, only the Mercedes S-Class and the Mercedes EQS have received this approval so far. The system is called “Drive Pilot”.
In Germany, these cars are allowed to drive on motorways – but only if the speed drops below 60, i.e. traffic is at a standstill. The driver can then leave control of the machine.
But the new system is reaching its limits, the General German Automobile Club recently reported. The “Drive Pilot” does not work in darkness, fog or rain, or at construction sites and in tunnels.
It is obvious why the system has a kind of precautionary anchor: in level 3 operation, responsibility for the driving task is transferred to the manufacturer. In the event of an accident, it is not the driver who would have to answer to the law, but rather the manufacturer.
Robotaxis are no longer allowed to drive
A current case shows that things can get tricky. After two accidents involving pedestrians, the robotaxi company Cruise is no longer allowed to send cars onto the streets of San Francisco without people behind the wheel. The California Transportation Authority judges that these models are not safe enough. Vehicles from competitor Waymo, on the other hand, are still allowed to drive driverless through San Francisco.
Illegal protest before the official stop: Activists disable a Cruise self-driving robotaxi in San Francisco (July 11, 2023).
Photo: Josh Edelson (AFP)
Cruise is considered a pioneer in autonomous driving. The General Motors subsidiary was apparently doomed by an accident at the beginning of October: a woman fell under a cruise vehicle and was dragged several meters. The authorities believe that this shows that these cars are not safe enough. According to the accident report, the pedestrian was initially hit by another car with a human behind the wheel and thrown in front of the self-driving car. The self-driving car braked immediately, but was no longer able to prevent the collision.
The traffic authority is particularly critical of what happened next. The robotaxi initially stopped, but then tried to pull over to the side of the road. The injured woman who was stuck under the car was dragged around six meters and the car reached a speed of around eleven kilometers per hour. Cruise said on Tuesday that it was looking into how the software could be improved to respond to such rare events.
The federal government is planning surveillance
The example shows how much drivers and other road users will depend on how well the technology works in the future. Switzerland is dependent on foreign countries here, because the approval of the various automation systems takes place at the European level.
According to the Federal Council, checking whether a new system meets all requirements will become “increasingly important” in the future. The number of software in vehicle technology is constantly increasing and there will always be adjustments to the technical regulations. Although automated vehicles have great potential for improving road safety, “they are also associated with risks if they are not used properly,” writes the Federal Council.
The lead Federal Roads Office is therefore planning market surveillance. If necessary, it will check the conformity of the automation systems itself. “It’s about the safety of all road users,” says spokesman Thomas Rohrbach.
However, it shouldn’t be too long before the first cars with automation level 3 are driving in Switzerland. The Federal Office assumes that the Federal Council’s new rules will come into force in 2025.
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