Driver aids
Driver aids /dry-ver aydz/ noun (plural)
Driver aids, also known as advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), are a suite of electronic systems in a motor vehicle designed to assist the driver with the tasks of driving and parking, and to increase overall safety. This is the collective term for the army of electronic nannies that have infested modern cars, all operating on the quiet assumption that the human behind the wheel is a clumsy, inattentive idiot. These systems are designed to save you from your own incompetence, from braking for you when you are admiring a billboard to nudging the steering when you wander out of your lane. They represent the gradual erosion of driver responsibility, a technological creep that began with a laudable goal and is now heading towards a future where the driver is merely a passenger with a better view.
The Full Story of Driver Aids
The journey towards the semi-sentient car began with simple, benign systems. Cruise control was a convenience, but the true revolution started with the Anti-lock Braking System (ABS). It was the first system to prove that in a moment of panic, a computer had a cooler head than a human. ABS provided the foundation, its wheel speed sensors becoming the essential building blocks for everything that followed.
Next came the two great pillars of active safety. Traction Control (TCS) used the same sensors to detect a spinning wheel under acceleration and would cut the engine power or brake the wheel to restore grip. It was the sworn enemy of the boy racer. Following that was the far cleverer Electronic Stability Control (ESC). Using a host of new sensors to measure steering angle and the car's yaw rate, ESC could detect when a car was beginning to skid sideways. By braking individual wheels with surgical precision, it could tuck the car back into line, preventing a spin. It has been credited with saving more lives than any safety feature since the seatbelt.
With this trinity of safety established, the systems began to take over more and more of the actual driving. This leap was made possible by fitting cars with a new set of senses: cameras, radar, and lidar. Suddenly, the car could see the world around it. This led to Lane-Keeping Assist, which nudges the steering wheel when you drift over a white line, a feature that is deeply annoying on a twisty British B-road. Then came Adaptive Cruise Control, which maintains a set distance to the car in front, and Autonomous Emergency Braking, which will slam on the anchors if it decides you are about to have an accident.
The modern car is now a bundle of sensors and processors, constantly monitoring its surroundings and the driver's inputs, ready to intervene at the slightest sign of human error. From parking sensors that beep with increasing panic to systems that will perform a perfect parallel park for you, these aids have systematically removed skill and judgment from the driving equation. They are the individual steps on the slow, inevitable march towards the fully autonomous car, where the weakest link in the safety chain, the driver, is finally removed altogether.
For The Record
What is the most important driver aid?
Most safety experts agree it is Electronic Stability Control (ESC). Its ability to prevent a car from going into a spin or a slide is credited with preventing a huge number of single-vehicle accidents. It has been a mandatory feature on new cars in Europe for many years for this very reason.
Can you turn these systems off?
Some, but not all. Most cars allow you to temporarily disable traction control and lane-keeping assist, often through a series of infuriating sub-menus. Core safety systems like ABS and ESC, however, are generally always active in the background.
Do they make people worse drivers?
This is the great debate. Critics argue that an over-reliance on driver aids can lead to complacency and a degradation of basic car control skills. If the car is always there to save you, why bother paying full attention? Proponents argue that the enormous net safety benefit for the vast majority of drivers outweighs any such risk.
What is the difference between traction control and stability control?
Traction control primarily works in a straight line to prevent wheelspin when you accelerate from a standstill or at low speed. Stability control is much more complex; it works when you are cornering to prevent the car from either understeering (ploughing straight on) or oversteering (spinning out).
Are driver aids the same as a self-driving car?
No. This is a crucial distinction. Current systems are "assistance" systems. They require the driver to be alert, with their hands on the wheel, and ready to take over at any second. A true self-driving (autonomous) car would require no human intervention at all. We are not quite there yet.