Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are systems developed to automate/adapt/enhance vehicle systems for safety and better driving. Safety features are designed to avoid collisions and accidents by offering technologies that alert the driver to potential problems, or to avoid collisions by implementing safeguards and taking over control of the vehicle. Adaptive features may automate lighting, provide adaptive cruise control, automate braking, incorporate GPS/ traffic warnings, connect to smartphones, alert driver to other cars or dangers, keep the driver in the correct lane, or show what is in blind spots.

There are many forms of ADAS available; some features are built into cars or are available as an add-on package. Also, there are aftermarket solutions available.[1] ADAS relies on inputs from multiple data sources, including automotive imaging, LiDAR, radar, image processing, computer vision, and in-car networking.[2] Additional inputs are possible from other sources separate from the primary vehicle platform, such as other vehicles, referred to as Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), or Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (such as mobile telephony or wifi data network) systems.

Advanced driver assistance systems are one of the fastest-growing segments in automotive electronics,[3] with steadily increasing rates of adoption of industry-wide quality standards, in vehicular safety systems ISO 26262, developing technology specific standards, such as IEEE 2020 for Image Sensor quality[4] and communications protocols such as the Vehicle Information API.[5]

Next-generation ADAS will increasingly leverage wireless network connectivity to offer improved value by using car-to-car (also known as Vehicle to Vehicle, or V2V) and car-to-infrastructure (also known as Vehicle to Infrastructure, or V2X) data.[6] Developments

On March 31, 2014,the US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that it will require all new vehicles under 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) to have rear view cameras by May 2018.[7] The rule was required by Congress as part of the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007. The Act is named after two-year-old Cameron Gulbransen, who was killed when his father failed to see the toddler, and accidentally backed his SUV over him in the family’s driveway.[8]

GM offered the first vibrating seat warning ever available, in Cadillacs starting with the 2013 Cadillac ATS. If the driver begins drifting out of the traveling lane of a highway, the seat vibrates on the side of the seat in the direction of the drift, warning the driver of danger. The Safety Alert Seat also provides a vibrating pulse on both sides of the seat when a frontal threat is detected.[9]

Alcohol ignition interlock devices do not allow the driver to start the car if the breath alcohol level is above a predescribed amount.[10] The Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have called for a Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) program to put alcohol detection devices in all cars.[11]