Smart cars for not-so-smart streets

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) have become an integral part of the safety features in higher-end new cars (mostly EV) available in Nepal. It has come to a point where customers are turned off by cars that do not have them installed. 

These features vary widely:  from very basic visual assistance for drivers to self-driving options. Among the more common features in Nepal are blind spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition, and emergency braking. But not all of such driver assistance options actually come into play or are any help in Nepal’s chaotic traffic. 

Gone are the days when simply having two airbags in front, traction control and anti-locking braking were considered the epitome of safety. Cars now come with highly specialised and nuanced systems that work to actively prevent road casualties, rather than just mitigate its after-effects.  

In my recent review of the MG IM6, I noted that the car took ADAS to a whole new level with sensors firing LiDAR rays and HD cameras constantly and computing obstructions nearby and detecting imminent harm, but also performing necessary last-minute evasive actions if needed. These features allowed the IM6 to not only to drive autonomously, but also parallel park with ease without any human input. 

But the question I had in my mind was: would I ever allow my car to do this knowing Nepal’s (lack of) road discipline? 

Road infrastructure in Nepal is finally trying to catch up to international standards in some places, but there is still a long way to go. While many newly built roads have proper paint markings they are faded in many others. Road furniture exists in some new highways, but mysteriously only in limited stretches.

Nepal’s roads and highways are irregularly pitched with asphalt overlay, but done so sloppily and with no regard to drainage that they are soon cratered with potholes. Many roads are barely lit at night. 

Although traffic has improved, it is still unpredictable, especially during rush hour, with two- and four-wheelers darting left and right between lane markings and jaywalkers raising an arm towards oncoming speeding vehicles. Then the pollution, dust and rain can reduce ADAS accuracy. 

While ADAS was built with the assumption of proper road infrastructure and giving the benefit of doubt that there is good road discipline, Nepal’s flexible and fatalistic driving culture can confuse its algorithms. 

When I took Leapmotor B10 out for a review, its refinement and efficiency was amazing, until I had a predicament common in the inner lanes of Kathmandu:  backing out of a galli into the main Lazimpat uphill near the Japanese Embassy. 

I had just picked up the EV and naturally had not familiarised myself with it much, being preoccupied with its range. While reversing, the ADAS detected harm, deployed emergency brakes and screeched to a dead halt. Even though I was going hardly 2kph into incoming traffic, the brake calipers bolted firm, the hazard lights flashed, the seatbelts tensioned around my neck and the entire cabin jerked backwards. I had to eventually shift into park, turn all the ADAS settings off before finishing the maneuver. 

OVER-RELIANCE

Opinion remains divided among Nepali drivers about ADAS. Some swear by it, while others quietly disable the system. It is a bit like pilots flying to mountain airstrips in Nepal turning off the cockpit's Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System because the 'Terrain' warning keeps coming on.

Proper understanding of ADAS functionality is needed to fully utilise it, otherwise it can lead to over-reliance and misunderstanding about capabilities. ADAS features are also reserved and equipped in more premium models and trims, thus remaining a far reach for the capabilities of many Nepali buyers.

ADAS is tested and calibrated in markets abroad where good road infrastructure and better driving discipline may be the norm. To fully sensitise it on Nepal's roads, there has to be more rigorous testing and calibration done with South Asian road behaviour where, sometimes a single-lane road is shared by not just two-way traffic, but ox carts, buses, bicycles, pedestrians and all of the above. Nepal has no national standards for testing or regulating ADAS.

Proper ADAS implementation in future will need transparent collaboration between the various government agencies and the auto sector. But for a small auto market like Nepal where the annual vehicle sale averages only around 15,000 units, large automotive brands would probably not care. 

While ADAS can make driving safe not only for those inside and outside of a vehicle, the system must understand the nature of roads it is navigating. Until Nepal’s highways and habits truly evolve, technology and algorithms alone can outsmart chaos only so much. 

But who knows, AI-enabled ADAS could be trained in future to handle even Nepal’s poor roads and chaotic traffic.  

Arnav Upadhyay reviews automobiles and promotes road safety under the handle Casually Annoyed Driver on Youtube, Tiktok and IG, and this monthly column Drive Line in Nepali Times.