How do Vehicle Automated Features Help or Hurt Driving Performance?

Abstract

It is anticipated that vehicles having automated features of Level 0 to Level 5 will coexist in the future. However, many people are unsure what role, if any, human drivers will play at these levels. How do these automated features affect drivers' performances? This article attempts to answer this question by reviewing critical information from human-automation system characteristics of vehicles with specific automated features (AV). Essential facts about the differences in functional features between human drivers and systems and automated features at various levels were clarified and summarized, including their characteristics, roles, and technical AV structures. Finally, drivers’ performances at all automation levels were discussed. This review provides the insight needed to understand how the automated features affect drivers' performances and to what extent. The results indicate that drivers’ performance does not improve as the automated level upgrades. Compared with no automation, active-safety and high automation can achieve lower workload and better driving performances for drivers. In contrast, driver assistance and partial/conditional automation impose more increased workloads and unstable (even risky) driving performance.