ADAS features must have a similar name across vehicle make and model – a demand first introduced by Consumer Reports, and supported by AAA, JD Power, the National Safety Council, PAVE and SAE International. The alliance says that the current terminology used by carmakers varies widely enough to confuse the consumer on the function of a particular ADAS feature.
The feature called ‘Forward Collision Alert’ is quite easy to understand. But then, if the same feature is offered under different names, such as ‘pre-collision protection system’, or ‘smart city brake support’, then understanding starts to get unclear.
There are also some names that are outright misleading, for example, Tesla’s ‘full self-driving’, which the company acknowledged in a 2020 legal filing in California that the feature is not and will not be self-driving . Kelley Blue Book quoted company leaders as saying they “do not expect significant growth” that would “shift responsibility for the entire dynamic driving task to the system.”
Tesla also has something called Autopilot, which doesn’t actually pilot the car for you automatically.
Consumer groups have suggested that there should be a distinction between warning systems and intervention systems. For example, Forward Collision Warning warns the driver of the danger in front of the car, and Automatic Emergency Braking does the same and applies the brakes.
“The standardized terms were created to provide clarity to consumers to describe and describe the functions of ADAS in a consistent, easy-to-understand manner,” the group says.
They also allow marketing names, as long as the automakers used a common jargon to explain what each did.
They are not seeking government regulation at this point. Instead, they call on automakers to adopt standardized terminology “to help reduce consumer confusion.”