Driver training challenges, barriers and needs arising from ADAS development

Year to year, vehicles are becoming more advanced, and manufacturers offer newer support systems. Progressive technology development must be followed by relevant sociological changes, including establishing a proper user awareness level. Even though compulsory driver training, required before obtaining a license, consists of selected support features, e.g. ABS (Anti-lock Braking System), it does not provide novice drivers with the necessary practical skills and knowledge of all automation features available on the market. To reduce the human error factor, the European Parliament adopted new regulations, including minimum safety requirements for new vehicles. This paper identifies the gap between the current approach toward teaching automation and necessary changes that should be made to ensure road safety. It provides an overview of ADAS functions allowed to be used during driving license exam of category B in different European countries. Moreover, the publication contains results of work carried out under the Trustonomy project. Outcomes obtained from the questionnaires were used to develop new driver training curricula. The publication discusses the developments of a survey conducted among 83 Polish drivers and 91 car fleet managers. The paper reveals their attitude and expectations towards driver training. The results indicate that despite the awareness of ADAS's positive impact on safety (80% of drivers vote, 96% of car fleet managers votes), man people still didn't take part in any training and still do not know how to use systems properly. Even more worrying is the fact that more than 50% of drivers admitted they acquired knowledge about system operation based on their own mistakes. Many responders expressed their interest in acquiring new knowledge. This situation indicates an urgent need to introduce changes to the driver training system. Therefore, the publication highlights different regulatory boundaries across Europe and stresses the need to update existing curricula to introduce proper automation-related training.