On August 14, the "Meiyihao" WeChat public account released an obituary saying that at 14:00 on August 12, Lin Wenqin, the founder of Meiyihao Brand Management Company, enabled the automatic driving function (NOP pilot status) while driving the NIO ES8 car, and then died in a traffic accident in the Hanjiang section of the Shenhai Expressway, at the age of 31.
▲ Lin Wenqin. According to the "beauty of a good" WeChat public account
Subsequently, the topic of #chain brand founder driving Weilai ES8 car accident death was on Weibo hot search, causing a lot of discussion. Many netizens believe that the "pilot assist" function is not automatic driving, and it is necessary to always hold the steering wheel in their hands.
Recently, overseas authoritative car media have conducted actual measurements of 17 models of cars listed on sale and equipped with automatic driving assistance systems, and found that the automatic driving assistance systems of all vehicles can be "deceived" into the state of automatic driving, and it is not only a specific brand that needs to be improved.
Assisted driving functions ≠ autonomous driving
Naming is often misleading to consumers
According to foreign media reports, at present, most new cars have very similar auxiliary driving functions, but the automatic assisted driving system of different brands of vehicles has different names and different indicators, and consumers will not know.
For example, the lane keeping assist function or center assist function is to use one or more cameras to detect lane markings and apply appropriate thrust to the steering wheel to assist the driver to keep the vehicle in its own lane and reduce the risk of the vehicle deviating from the lane; the adaptive cruise control function, which is a car function that allows the vehicle cruise control system to adjust the speed to adapt to traffic conditions, and the radar installed in front of the vehicle is used to detect the presence of slower vehicles on the road ahead of the vehicle.
Combined, these two functions can control the direction, acceleration, and braking of the car, provide assistance to the driver in driving, and may even convince the driver that the automatic driver assistance system can handle long periods of unmanned driving.
▲ Some drivers mistakenly believe that automatic driving assistance systems can "free hands" from then on. Image by Car and Driver
But this is actually a misconception that no one can be completely confident that the driver assistance system will pay attention to the road and avoid obstacles, in other words, the idea that "cars don't need human drivers" is very wrong.
According to British media reports, experts warned that automakers should carefully name driving systems and avoid using strong suggestive words such as "unmanned driving, autonomous driving, autonomous cruising", which can easily give consumers the illusion that the vehicle has a completely autonomous driving function, while ignoring the control of the vehicle.
Experts say that car companies use terms such as "autonomous" and "autonomous driving" in car advertising, which will create a false sense of security for drivers. Drivers' excessive reliance on automated driving capabilities can cause them to relax their alertness while the car is on the move, leading to danger.
The report commissioned by the Insurance Association of the United Kingdom also said it was dangerous to use the word "autonomous" in car marketing copywriting. And automakers are giving self-driving technology a "misleading name." At the same time, the report calls on automakers to ensure that drivers have a clear understanding of the specific functions of autonomous driving.
Authoritative automotive media large-scale actual measurement
All 17 models have vulnerabilities in the automatic driver assistance system
A few days ago, an authoritative overseas automotive media conducted a large-scale actual test, proving that the automatic driving assistance system of many car brands can be "deceived", and it is not only a specific brand that needs to be improved.
According to reports, the automotive media tested 17 models from 16 car brands, including Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, Genesis, Honda, Hyundai, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Fox, Volvo, Tesla and vehicles with driving assistance systems.
The automotive media specifically applied to the government to close the 2.4 km highway section to ensure test safety. It turns out that the automatic driver assistance system of all vehicles can be deceived by specific means and tools, and eventually allow the vehicle to continue driving without a driver's seat.
▲Related tests. Image by Car and Driver
The media first tested how the vehicle undoes its seat belts with active cruise control (ACC) and lane keeping assist (LKA) on, testing how the automatic driver assistance system will react. During this process, Subaru will immediately cancel all driver assistance functions, and Tesla and Cadillac will even brake and slow down to stop the vehicle after canceling the assisted driving.
The second test is how long it takes for the auto-assisted driving system to sound the alarm after the driver has left the steering wheel with both hands. The fastest brands are Cadillac, Ford, Volvo, Toyota and Lexus, which alert drivers within 21 seconds. The worst performer was Hyundai, which took 91 seconds to activate the warning system, which was enough time for the vehicle to drive 2.4 kilometers.
The third test is to trick the car with tools, applying gravity to the steering wheel to make the automatic driver assistance system mistakenly believe that the driver's hands are not leaving. As a result, only BMW and Mercedes-Benz successfully caught the foul, because the system they used used used touch recognition, rather than simply sensing the pressure and weight. All other brands did not pass the pass.
What if you sit in the passenger seat and put your hand on the steering wheel? The result is that almost all brands fail the test – with no one in the driver's seat, the vehicle's automatic driver assistance system turns on and continues to drive forward. The automotive media pointed out in the report that although this behavior is definitely illegal, there are still many loopholes that need to be strengthened from the perspective of the system security of major automakers.
Red Star News reporter Jiang Yijin
Edited by Li Binbin
(Download Red Star News, there are prizes for the newspaper!) ）