Even The Best Driver Monitoring Systems Can Be Easily Defeated: Study

Does technology transcend society? This is a philosophical question that has been asked for decades, but with the advent of sophisticated driver assistance systems in vehicles, it is a topic that is increasingly on the minds of almost everyone connected to the automotive industry. The important word in that sentence is helpbecause no production vehicle offers hands-free, no-sight, automated driving.

That is, at least automated driving is neither safe nor legal, and therein lies the crux of this new study from the AAA. Level 2 driver assistance can control acceleration, braking and steering functions, but drivers must remain alert and engaged to make driving decisions that cannot be handled by computers. Driver monitoring systems are designed to prevent drivers from neglecting that responsibility, but it’s no secret that such systems can be tricked. AAA research digs deep into how easy this is to happen, and for how long.

The study classifies driver monitoring systems into direct and indirect categories, with the live system using a driver-facing camera to actively monitor the driver at all times. The system does not function directly through driver input, such as pressure on the steering wheel. As you might expect, the study found that the direct system did a much better job of preventing drivers from slacking off behind the wheel. But there’s nothing to stop drivers from being extended releases.

To that end, AAA found that indirect systems allowed an average of five minutes of driver distraction, compared to two minutes for active systems. Five minutes of inattention is a lifetime in a moving vehicle, but avoiding the camera for two minutes is of course important too. Traveling at 65 mph, the live driver monitoring system in the AAA evaluation allows for more than two miles of unloaded driving. For obvious reasons, this study did not detail exactly how the system was conned.

20 Photo

However, AAA says that no tools or devices are used, just the ingenuity of the driver learning the nuances of the system and how to keep them happy without actually staying involved. For indirect systems, the AAA says “testers can obtain these metrics with minimal challenge relative to live systems.” While the camera is harder to beat, two minutes of uninvolved driving is still possible without using fake glasses to mimic the eyes, or putting weight on the steering wheel.

The AAA’s final conclusion was that, directly or indirectly, “all systems evaluated were vulnerable to active circumvention.”

Study details are available at the source link below.