ADAS Features & Why They Need to Be Calibrated
Safety features may not be the flashiest part of a new car, but there’s no denying how crucial they can be. Today, many newer vehicles seen in and around Tucson include features known as “advanced driver assistance systems,” or ADAS for short. Each car’s exact lineup of ADAS features is different, but all of these are intended to keep you safe on the road.
It’s important to remember, however, that these cutting-edge safety features can’t operate correctly on their own. Sometimes, you need to take your car in for car-camera calibration and windshield calibration to get the most from your vehicle’s ADAS features. Keep reading for an explanation of ADAS features and why you should invest in ADAS calibration.
What Are ADAS Features?
The term “ADAS” does not refer to a single technology. Instead, the phrase covers dozens of different features that work independently to protect drivers. Each car’s lineup of ADAS features is different, but they can help you stay in the right lane, avoid getting too close to other drivers, and even provide warnings when you’re driving while drowsy.
It may be tempting to refer to ADAS as “self-driving” technology, but that’s something of an oversimplification. The engineering society SAE International divides vehicles into six different tiers of autonomy, ranging from purely mechanical vehicles (Level 0) to theoretical cars that are capable of self-driving (Level 5). ADAS features will be an essential part of vehicles at Level 5 once those cars actually exist, but they also appear in vehicles at Levels 1 through 4.
Get A Quick Quote on ADAS Calibration Services
A Closer Look at ADAS Features
There’s no shortage of ADAS features available in today’s vehicles, but some are more prominent than others. Here are a few driver assistance features you should know about:
Lane-Keeping Assist
One essential part of safe driving is staying in the correct lane. Accidentally going outside your lane (or even off the road) can put yourself and other drivers at risk. It’s no surprise that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety stated that single-vehicle roadway departures were a factor in 40% of deadly crashes in the US in 2014.
Lane-keeping assist (LKA) technology is designed to lower this risk by keeping a digital eye on the road, deciding whether or not the vehicle is drifting out of its lane, and nudging it back on track if necessary. That goes beyond passive lane departure warning systems, which merely notify drivers when they’re drifting into another lane without signaling.
Automatic Emergency Braking
If you’ve driven in the Tucson area for long enough, you’ve been in a situation where you had to slam on your brakes to avoid a collision. But successfully braking in these situations depends on your reflexes. If you had reacted just a moment later, you could have wound up in a severe car crash.
With automatic emergency braking (AEB), you can benefit from another layer of protection—a system that analyzes situations where a collision is imminent and applies the brakes on your behalf. For the most part, AEB systems can react more quickly than human drivers. These features can even result in a 50% reduction in rear-end collisions.
Adaptive Cruise Control
These days, just about every car has some sort of cruise control. Adaptive cruise control (ACC) starts with the same basic idea of setting a speed for your vehicle to
maintain, but it takes this concept to the next level with modern-day technology.
With ACC, your car’s speed will automatically adjust to the traffic around you. That means you won’t have to change your cruise control settings manually when encountering slower-moving drivers. Instead, your vehicle will take care of this for you and increase your set speed once the road ahead is open again.
Traffic-Jam Assist
Traffic-jam assist (TJA) uses the functionality that ACC provides and applies it to another context: the stop-and-go traffic that’s all too common in cities like Tucson. Along with ACC technology, TJA relies on another ADAS feature called “lane centering.”
In situations where traffic is at a near standstill, TJA assists with steering, brakes, and throttle management. This feature is beneficial for people driving in urban areas, as it can reduce the risk of fender-benders in low-speed traffic.
Get A Quick Quote on ADAS Calibration Services
Countless Other Features
Of course, the features described above aren’t the only ones that fall under the ADAS umbrella. New vehicles may also have ADAS features, such as:
- Adaptive light control
- Automatic parking
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Driver-drowsiness detection
- Electric-vehicle warning sounds
- Pedestrian detection
- Tire-pressure monitoring
- Traffic-sign recognition
The Importance of ADAS Calibration
These ADAS features and others can be incredibly helpful and even lifesaving. But they all have one thing in common: they rely on a vast array of sensors and cameras to get the job done. To provide your ADAS systems with the reliable information they need, those sensors need to be precisely calibrated and recalibrated. If a sensor is even a millimeter or two off, it could make the difference between a successfully working ADAS feature and one that can’t function as expected.
Most ADAS features are relatively new—these capabilities are not required by law on new vehicles. Additionally, significant standardization in the field still has yet to take place. Because of this, not every auto shop in Tucson can deliver ADAS calibration services. On top of that, some shops that do offer these services aren’t able to provide them at the quality level you might expect.
Get the Best Windshield Calibration in Tucson
The good news is that finding reliable windshield calibration services in Tucson isn’t difficult. Just count on the team at Max Auto Glass to take care of it for you! We can use state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment to check your car’s ADAS features, recalibrate these systems, and repair or replace nonfunctional sensors. And with our financing options and promotions, you won’t need to worry about ADAS calibration costs.
Have you recently repaired or replaced your windshield? If so, or if you think your car’s ADAS sensors need calibration for any other reason, let us know today!
