Volkswagen is a brand that prides itself on safety. It has been quietly including features that include some early parts of the autonomous feature set. Recently announced is a new feature available in the upcoming Arteon that would help drivers stay awake—or protect them in case they fall asleep at the wheel.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve become tired on long drives before; mindlessly driving myself through miles and miles of highway after a long night. Someone at VW must have experienced this as well, because their newest safety feature helps to coax the driver into waking up, or forces them stop driving altogether.
So you start getting sleepy on the road. You haven’t tapped the brakes or touched the steering wheel in a little while. Perhaps your foot is not on the gas anymore and you start to drift in and out of your lane. The new VW Arteon will recognize these patterns and begin to wake you up by performing certain actions: playing sounds, giving visual feedback to the driver, or even jolting the brakes. If you’re still showing no signs of waking up, the sedan will flip on its hazards and steer itself to a stop on the side of the road.
The service, called “Emergency Assist 2.0,” utilizes existing features that Volkswagen has been cramming into its newer vehicles. Here’s how the existing tech will be utilized on the new Arteon:
- Adaptive cruise control: Used in conjunction with Side assist to ensure that the vehicle remains free from collisions.
- Lane assistance: Recognize lines on the road, ensure that the driver is not swerving and safely navigate to the side if necessary.
- Park assistance: Used to help steer the car to keep the driver safe and/or park the car if no response from the driver after several cues.
Though this isn’t necessarily cutting edge, it does leverage several existing safety mechanisms to combat a dangerous situation which many drivers find themselves in. Continuing to improve overall vehicle safety is a goal that many manufacturers are pushing to achieve.