[Omkar]

We recently had a thread on whether you find the ADAS features in a car useful or not. ~60% of the people who voted felt that the ADAS features were useless and wouldn’t use them. As someone who loves to drive, I would agree with the sentiment, but it’s hard to ignore the safety that some of the features provide.


With so many new drivers on the road, ADAS features like blind spot warning, collision braking assist, high beam assist, and rear cross-traffic avoidance assist help to keep them and others on the road safe. But more seasoned drivers prefer having the driver assistance features switched off. As for me, I don’t mind using adaptive cruise control when out on the long expressways where the lanes are properly marked and you have to stick to the speed limit. However, in the city, I prefer having everything switched off completely as the systems can prove to be too intrusive on Indian roads. Specifically, the forward collision braking assist in some cars like the Hyundai Creta and MG Hector has been tuned aggressively which means that the car applies brakes on its own even when there's good enough distance. In some cars though like in Tata Safari, you get three levels of adjustment for the sensitivity of the emergency braking.


In most cars, the ADAS features can be switched off individually through the touchscreen infotainment head-unit. In some cars, you can switch them off through the MID using steering-mounted controls. Then you have a car like the Jeep Grand Cherokee in which you need to switch off the lane keep assist by pressing a button on top of the touchscreen every time you start the car.


So, the question here is pretty simple. Would you prefer having an ADAS On/Off switch that would activate or deactivate ALL the functions of ADAS? Or do you prefer having to select features individually?

[GTO]

Voted yes, I want a MASTER On/Off button for ADAS, just like we have for engine idling start / stop systems.

Main reason = ADAS auto-braking is dangerous in India. I have had a couple of close shaves myself when the car hard-brakes unexpectedly, and a few BHPians have reported accidents where they got rear-ended. These braking systems are tuned for Europe & USA, not India where the gaps to other vehicles & pedestrians are much slimmer.

It's a 2-minute ritual now = every time I get a media test-drive car, I spend 2 minutes going through the menu and switching all the systems off. Did it for the Seltos, C40 Recharge, Safari Facelift etc. Not only does this take too long, but on a rare occasion or two, I've forgotten to disable these systems.

A master on-off switch like we have for idling start / stop will be just perfect and keep both camps happy (ADAS supporters as well as naysayers).

[Axe77]

In a perfect world, I want a top of line variant without Level 2 ADAS at all. I’ll do my own braking thank you very much.

Coming to the question. If the vehicle I buy must be with ADAS, I would definitely want ADAS to be custom switch off’able. Ideally, I would like this to be a memory setting that stays in the selected mode even if you stop and re-start the car. Or one where you can yourself choose what default mode you want - on or off. In terms of the setting level, it may as well offer both options. Turn “all” off vs turn off selectively as you please. For instance in my Mercedes, I like blind spot warning (but not lane departure override or automatic braking). Similarly I don’t mind auto braking in parking mode if there is a rear obstacle. But most importantly, it should respect the settings selected when you restart the car. If it’s a safety issue, it can always deal with it with a warning when starting up as to what the chosen setting are - instead of forcing the user to reselect them every single time.

One of the most annoying aspects of my Mercedes is that I have to get into 3 levels of menus to switch off automatic braking EVERY time I start the car and take off again. One of the singularly most annoying aspects of driving a modern ADAS equipped car.

[Samurai]

Before owning a level 2 ADAS equipped car, I would have voted YES. But after driving the top end Tucson for 3 months, I have changed my mind.

I have never turned off the emergency braking after taking delivery. I decided so because I knew I won't remember to switch it off every time. So, I better get used having it on, and so far, not regretted it.

I just keep a decent distance from the front vehicle and so far, it has not done any dangerous braking on me during the wrong time. Oh, it has applied emergency braking couple of times, but nothing close to getting me into trouble.

But I have turned off the lane departure warning & assist, it is too irritating to drive with, and it stays off.

I prefer switching off features individually, and that is what I picked in the poll.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Before owning a level 2 ADAS equipped car, I would have voted YES. But after driving the top end Tucson for 3 months, I have changed my mind.

Exact same feeling here.

The first month of owning my Verna, it gave a couple of scares when the car braked hard.

But this was during the first 500 kms of the ownership.

Now my car is almost at 4000 kms. The last 3500 kms had just one ADAS emergency braking and it saved the idiot driver in front of me, who braked for no particular reason after crossing a traffic light.

ADAS, I feel has made me a better driver.

[shancz]

Voted Yes.

While the option to individually toggle each feature is what I would like, but a master ADAS on/off is non negotiable.

Why? First for ease of use and if anyone has driven in T2 traffic they probably get a hang of what I am talking about. Short distances, longer travel times, chaotic traffic, even on the highways.

And when the car is being used by someone else I don't think drivers here would be able to comprehend the pre-drive checklist let alone keep it as a memory item

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by Omkar

...

So, the question here is pretty simple. Would you prefer having an ADAS On/Off switch that would activate or deactivate ALL the functions of ADAS? Or do you prefer having to select features individually?

If I want the convenience of switching everything off at the flick of a switch, then definitely YES. However, I would still like to retain the ability to selectively turn features off, according to my driving preferences/terrain.

ADAS is definitely a comfort and safe tech, which I would like to have - But, would not like that to hinder the fact that I'd like to drive my car myself sometime.

P.S-

In fact, I'd like if I can turn off ESC, pedal maps, transmission calibration, and everything else and just have the pure car and me time for those rare instances.

[Rajeevraj]

While I do not have a car with L2 ADAS built in, as I have been working in this domain, have had the opportunity to have and test an after-market ADAS system in my car for the last ~4 years. Being an after-market system, it is only a warning system and does not do any active interventions. This I have felt is a good starting point-Give appropriate warning to the drivers and over a period of time this helps improve driver behavior. The situations and speeds at which different warnings trigger are also important. For example a tailgating alert is active only at speeds greater than 30kmph. An FCW has a different urgency below 30, a Lane Departure is triggered only above 50kmph. Even with all this, some of the warnings can get intrusive/irritating in some situations.

Keeping all this in mind, my vote for active systems is that they should be managed easily on an individual basis. Manufacturers should also look at different levels of sensitivity based on speed which users can adjust for each alert.

Having said that, managing these should also be made easy. People cannot keep fiddling with these settings all the time. One suggestion is that manufacturers can create different profiles that users can quickly select depending on the driving condition. For example: Have a warning only profile or a low intervention profile. This will ensure more and more people will use the ADAS safety features and not blindly turn everything off because there are 2 things that they do not like or are not comfortable with.

[1.2TSI7DSG]

Giving a on dashboard switch that allows a quick on off is not a sensible idea.
Need something like an ESP switch that needs to be pressed for a good amount of time to actually switch it on or off

Else car manufacturers will be looking at many cases where ADAS was switched on at the last moment etc.

[07CR]

Originally Posted by Omkar

Specifically, the forward collision braking assist in some cars like the Hyundai Creta and MG Hector has been tuned aggressively which means that the car applies brakes on its own even when there's good enough distance. In some cars though like in Tata Safari, you get three levels of adjustment for the sensitivity of the emergency braking.

That's strange. My Seltos gets three levels of adjustment for forward collision braking assist. I expected Creta to have it too.

I actually like using the ADAS L2 on my Seltos. It's tuned brilliantly and always works as expected. Only caveat is, except once, I have always turned off the emergency braking system. Basically I use cruise control a lot on highways. Since it has adaptive cruise, it automatically brakes, and I never need to turn on emergency braking on highways. But in city conditions, I believe in my driving skills and don't want the car to brake, when I don't want it to, hence have turned the forward collision assist off.

That said, coming to the question, rather than having a ON/OFF switch, the car should remember the mode it was kept in, and one should not always need to switch it ON or OFF. For instance, before starting your drive in Elevate and Safari you ALWAYS need to turn OFF the Forward collision avoidance system. This is very irritating and can be dangerous as well.

Also if a master switch is provided the user should have ability to selectively turn ON certain ADAS features.

[pd1108]

While some of the features maybe excessive, like forward collision warning or the adaptive cruise control in city driving, but others are quite useful, like cross-traffic alert etc. I would prefer a single drop-down menu with radio buttons for all the options. So I can turn on or off as required. Also, my selection stays selected till I change it.

[Loco-moto]

My ADAS journey started with the 2023 Verna. In the initial days, the AEB caused some scares but I have modulated my driving style. I maintain the average speed of traffic around me.

Not only the fuel consumption has reduced in my daily commute (by ~15%) the driving stress has reduced as well. Now the AEB does not feel intrusive at all.

With kids and family on board, it is re-assuring to have another driving aid in unexpected situations.

An ADAS Off button will actually lead to reduced safety, it should be mandatorily active, with feature customizations. In fact all vehicles should be ADAS enabled, imagine head-on collisions will be eliminated!

[GeeTee TSI]

As a driver of a non-ADAS car, I can only maintain that I will switch it off unless I am confident of its effectiveness without jarring, abrupt manoeuvres startling other road users.

Interesting views on ADAS intervention, a switch off of ABS or TC might not have warranted a poll!

[2000rpm]

I drove the XUV for about 600 Kms on a recent goa trip.

The Lane keep assist was super irritating and kept tugging at the steering for normal lane changes without indicator.

The Emergency Braking wasnt very intrusive.

[SeniorC]

I have switched on all the ADAS in my Seltos 2023, after initially switching on only rear cross traffic alerts and blind spot alerts. In five months of chaotic Delhi traffic, not even once I have any instance of emergency breaking. I am a relaxed driver and do not go above city speed limits of 50/60 kmph and maintain safe distance from the vehicle ahead. Even the constant weaving in and out of the two and three wheelers have not activated the ADAS even once.

The adaptive cruise control on the highways is brilliant. In India, many drivers do not have the habit of switching on turn indicators while starting to drive from a stop or while changing lanes. If one has this habit, then lane assist is never intrusive.

Having said that, I would prefer to have selective on/ off of the ADAS features with the settings to remain as selectively set even after switching off the vehicle.