Educating and training drivers of vehicles equipped with assisted and automated driving features

Wednesday, 18 March 2020

Austroads has published a research report identifying the skills, knowledge and behaviours people need, now and in the future, to operate vehicles equipped with technologies that support and automate driving tasks. The report also examines what role, if any, registration and licensing authorities could undertake to ensure that licence applicants are competent in the use of these technologies.

“As vehicles increasingly incorporate new technologies, drivers will need to perform new functions and tasks,” says John Wall, Austroads’ Program Manager, Future Vehicles and Technology. “We wanted to determine whether licensing requirements should change to ensure drivers have the necessary education and training to safely operate these technologies on the road network.”

The focus of the project was on identifying education and training requirements for drivers of light and heavy vehicles equipped with Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Level 0 to 2 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and Level 3 automated driving features (ADFs).

In Australia and New Zealand, there are already several vehicles with SAE Level 0 to 2 systems on the roads, and some vehicles with Level 3 features. However, while Australian Road Rule 297 does not prohibit Level 3 vehicles from being driven, it states the driver must continue to control the driving and must not engage in other tasks.

“Our research included identifying any gaps in Australian and New Zealand registration and licensing activities compared with international jurisdictions, any risks associated with misuse of ADAS and ADFs, and harmonisation of education and training activities across jurisdictions,” says principal report author Professor Michael (Mike) Regan.

“We found consumers are very aware of the existence of ADAS technologies but have little knowledge of their limitations. They would prefer to receive training through dealerships when they acquire their vehicles, but research has shown dealerships may provide inaccurate or incomplete information.

While owners’ manuals are provided to first owners, there is very limited information available online for subsequent owners, despite around 80% of vehicles purchased in Australia being used cars. There is also limited information online relating to education in the safe and appropriate use of these features for all light and heavy vehicle drivers.”

Registration and licensing authorities were seen to have roles in:

• encouraging education and training in the safe use of ADAS/ADFs through dealerships, manufacturers and interest groups
• supporting the integration of key safety messages into all levels of education and training, but not mandated assessment
• providing safety-related public education and supporting integration of key messages into existing optional knowledge and skills training, and mandated learning programs, for selected ADAS/ADF that are required by Australian Design Rules or included in ANCAP ratings.

“We concluded there is no need to change the driver licensing framework at present,” said Professor Regan. “However, we recommend ongoing monitoring and review of research and crash data to ensure jurisdictions are alerted as early as possible to any shortcomings in their training, assessment and licensing programs.

We also propose a study to identify ADAS that may be turned on during licence testing without compromising on-road driver test validity, reliability and fairness.”

“Austroads is developing projects to implement report recommendations so our licensing system can support drivers of vehicles with ADAS and ADF with relevant education and training,” says John Wall, Austroads’ Program Manager, Future Vehicles and Technology.

Download report: Education and Training for Drivers of Assisted and Automated Vehicles