Widespread confusion regarding the capabilities and limitations of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) is developing a ‘trust gap’ with modern cars.

That’s the conclusion of a new survey from technology specialist DG Cities, which warns that in order to buck this trend, dealers and car makers need to explain the tech better to buyers. From its findings, 40% of respondents report receiving insufficient information at the point of purchase.

Assistance systems such as blind-spot monitoring and lane centring were made standard on new cars through the European Union’s recent General Safety Regulations 2 (GSR2) with the aim of halving road deaths.

Highlighting some of the findings from the survey, DG Cities behavioural scientist Lara Suraci said: “A quarter of motorists were not happy with their cars’ ADAS features while one in 10 were unhappy with its accuracy.”

ADAS are deployed in different ways by different car makers. Researchers say this is confusing buyers and warn that it is key in the trust gap developing.

“We believe this variance between car makers risks confusing customers who shop around,” said Balázs Csuvár, director of innovation at DG Cities.

He added that because ADAS “wasn’t a key selling point” for car makers and because “there’s no marketing gain” to be had, “it is not anyone’s clear responsibility to promote and make ADAS acceptable and to function better”.

Yousif Al-Ani, principal engineer of ADAS at Thatcham Research, agrees that inconsistency between systems and their reliability and accuracy could be compounding the problem. “Models that appear to be relatively new may be using old technologies and cheaper cars are more likely to have older tech and lower computing power,” he said.

However, he added: “Despite these problems, I believe ADAS is getting better with each new model.”

Meanwhile, some organisations are trying to improve customers’ understanding of ADAS. The Motor Ombudsman, an impartial dispute resolution service, now requires the car dealers among its membership to explain the function and operation of ADAS at the point of a vehicle’s handover.

Managing director Bill Fennell said: “With ADAS features becoming more complex and commonplace, and sometimes varying between makes and models, the codes now make reference to retailers providing clear information on their function and limitations during the purchase process.”

Not all dealers are happy, though. “It’s not our place to do this,” the owner of a used car dealership told Autocar. “To say we must ‘train’ customers to understand their car’s ADAS features could make us liable in the event that one of them has an accident. To also require us to do this at the car’s handover, when the customer has so much else to absorb, is unrealistic.”

Fennell insists that members are only required to give guidance. He said: “Explaining how the features work or referring the consumer to where they can find more information will allow buyers to develop an understanding of how these systems work before leaving the forecourt.”

Undercover: What dealers tell buyers about ADAS 

Following the DG Cities survey, Autocar was keen to test dealer attitudes to ADAS. Posing as a buyer, a reporter visited four new car dealers and one used car supermarket.

Overall, his experience was positive. For example, the VW dealer told him correctly that ADAS provide only assistance and are not intended to replace the driver. At Ford, he was told the only vehicle in the brand’s range with anything resembling autonomous capability was the Mustang Mach-E and only when specified with optional BlueCruise.

At a Mini dealer, the salesperson’s explanation of ADAS was impressively detailed, but at Vauxhall the salesperson couldn’t explain how lane centring differs from lane keeping assistance. At the used car supermarket, the salesperson was ignorant of the term ADAS but, by referring to its features list, identified the subject car’s main ADAS functions.