Unintended Consequences

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are a disruptive precursor to fully autonomous vehicles (AVs), which will have far-reaching impacts on the nature of travel. With various ADAS features becoming increasingly common in vehicles, some unintended changes in driving behavior are expected including engaging in more risk-taking behavior while driving. To that end, the present study utilizes survey-based data of 1,000 Michigan adults and investigates the likelihood of drivers engaging in three different driving behaviors- cell phone use, consumption of alcohol, and tailgating when driving a vehicle with collision alert systems by means of multivariate ordered probit regression analysis. Results showed that younger drivers, drivers in high income group, drivers who identify as liberals, and males were more likely to engage in all three driving behaviors. However, across all groups of drivers, the probability to engage in any of the three risky driving behaviors was higher when driving a vehicle with collision alert system compared to when driving a vehicle without such system. Interestingly, the level of comfortability of the driver with various ADAS features did not seem to significantly affect the likelihood of driver engaging in any of the three risky driving behaviors. Nevertheless, the likelihood of drivers engaging in risky behaviors increased consistently regardless of their level of comfortability with various ADAS features. The introduction of various collision alert systems in the vehicle may result in unintended negative changes in driving behavior and ultimately traffic safety.