The most recent Quick Tip from the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) focuses on how direct driver monitoring works and what damages repairers should look for in vehicles equipped with the systems.

Direct driver monitoring is a driver monitoring system (DMS) that detects the driver’s eye or head movements to estimate where the driver is looking. The feature observes vehicle states, motions, and/or driver performance indicators to estimate driver distraction, inattention, or misuse. Some systems provide a warning and/or limit the use of other features when distracted driving is detected.

Joel Dufkis, I-CAR ADAS and EV instructor, said the systems use a camera that is mounted to the steering column or near the rearview mirror.

Dufkis cautioned that the OEM procedures should always be referred to when conducting repairs.

If there is any damage to the steering column or the driver’s air bag deployed, et cetera, follow repair procedures to check that the steering column-mounted camera isn’t damaged, he said. The same is the case in vehicles with a cabin-mounted camera near the rearview mirror if the mirror or windshield is damaged.

The Quick Tip series is filmed by SCRS and I-CAR to help consumers better understand the safety systems and functions potentially found on their vehicles, and the considerations those systems may contribute to the repair process. Terminology used is common naming and isn’t meant to replace automaker proprietary system or package names.

A recent Alliance for Automotive Innovation (Auto Innovators) webinar with Autoliv, General Motors, HARMAN, and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS) also discussed driver monitoring systems, including effectiveness and regulations.

Moderator Sarah Puro, of Auto Innovators, noted that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has called ADAS a convenience feature then asked the panelists how they believe the systems are beneficial to safety.

“Pre-production research highly rely on surrogate measures,” said Yi Glaser, of General Motors. “Crashes really happen very rarely so we look at events such as hard braking that may be related to crashes pre-production. Some crash types may be more related but we don’t really have a very good understanding of how these surrogate measures relate to real-world risk so that’s where the field data plays a very important role.”

She added that, in collaboration with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, GM has analyzed insurance claims and data reported by police to evaluate Super Cruise use. Super Cruise is GM’s hands-free driver assistance technology.

“We haven’t seen any effect either positive or negative related to either claims or police-reported crashes,” Glaser said. “The usage level of the ADAS system in the market so far is still relatively low… It will take some time to observe if [there is] any safety impact, either positive or negative. It’s a continuous effort.”

Mike Rowe, of Autoliv, said use needs to be higher to study partial autonomy systems and how they relate to natural driving behaviors.

“How can we measure this and then how can we assess it? How can we counteract this? I think with partial autonomy systems you have a much better opportunity. You can have the DMS cameras in place and the sensors in place to start to capture this data… We have anecdotal evidence, it’s intuitive, but we need more field study and data from actual usage.”

Ahluwalia noted that HARMAN accounts for human aspects of the data that its Ready Care system collects.

“You can’t create just one system that fits all without having a huge amount of data so the more we can get out in the field and test, the more data we can collect and start to be more accurate; not just for the global population but for the actual driver that’s in the car,” she said.

Kingsley said ACTS is conducting a significant amount of human subject testing on the road of its Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS).

“We’re looking at accuracy of the system right now — how can we minimize false positives and false negatives? …We’re working on trying to take that driver out of the loop if we detect alcohol-impaired driving before the vehicle is set in motion then we don’t have to worry how the driver will respond because we are going to prevent them from moving to begin with,” she said.

“Consumer acceptance is key to broad deployment of new technologies and that’s true even with a mandate in addition to designing the technology to be fast, accurate, and reliable. We’re developing technology that’s intended to not hassle an unimpaired driver. In order to do this, we have to work to minimize false positives but we must also design the technology to respect consumer privacy.”

ACTS is working to incorporate recommendations from the Future Privacy Forum’s spring 2024 report into its DADSS to avoid data being stored or transmitted outside the vehicle, Kingsley added.

Ahluwalia said HARMAN does its best to not store any raw data to protect consumers’ privacy.

We real-time process it to be consumable whether we’re detecting drowsiness or distraction or stress,” she said. “HARMAN is working with policymakers… There does need to be some baseline measures. We need to be able to have a baseline of what driver distraction means and how we can make sure the driver takes action.”

Daniel Glaser, also with GM, said the automaker wants its customers to consider ADAS useful.

“We want them to keep it on,” he said. “Just thinking we want to detect this and do something about it is not thinking deeply enough. We really need to think about what we should detect and the mitigation… What I would encourage the regulators to think about is how do I know that what I’m prescribing, and hopefully it’s not too narrow, is causing more good than harm? What is my evidence for this? How can I promote this new technology that can improve safety but do it in a way that provides space and motivation to learn and explore and stay curious and seek better implementations?”

The webinar is part of Auto Innovators’ Future Driven Forum Safety Innovation series which can be found here.

Images

Featured image: SCRS National Director Todd Hesford talks to I-CAR’s Joel Dufkis about driver monitoring systems in a Sept. 19, 2024 SCRS Quick Tip video. (YouTube screenshot)

More information

“Why Direct Driver Monitoring Systems are Important For Car Safety | Consumer Reports”