IIHS has rated the driver-engagement safeguards of 14 partial automation systems, and only 1 earns Acceptable or better: Lexus Teammate with Advanced Drive in the 2022-24 Lexus LS. 2 systems rate Marginal and 11 rate Poor, including both Tesla systems, Ford BlueCruise and Volvo Pilot Assist. No system has earned Good. The full table, with what each system does when the driver stops responding, is below.
All 14 rated systems, best to worst
Ratings are copied from the IIHS partial automation safeguards page as of 2026-09-03. Each applies to the exact vehicle and software version tested.
| Rating | System | Vehicle tested | Hands | What it does when you stop paying attention |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lexus Teammate with Advanced Drive | 2022-24 Lexus LS | Hands-free | Hands-free system. In the IIHS release, Teammate issued audible and visual alerts about 4 seconds after the driver looked away and began an emergency slowdown after about 16 seconds. It was the only system to earn Acceptable. | |
| General Motors Super Cruise | 2023-24 GMC Sierra | Hands-free | Hands-free system. IIHS credits Super Cruise as the only system that met every emergency-procedure requirement, including locking the driver out for the rest of the drive after an unresponsive stop. It lost points because it makes automated lane changes without driver input and switches lane centering off when the driver steers. | |
| Nissan ProPILOT Assist with Navi-link | 2023-24 Nissan Ariya | Hands-on | Hands-on system. IIHS reported alerts about 6 seconds after the driver disengaged and a third-stage brake pulse at about 21 seconds. It deactivates without an alert when a required safety feature is switched off, which is why safety features rated Acceptable rather than Good. | |
| BMW Active Driving Assistant Pro | 2023-24 BMW X1 | Hands-on | Hands-on system. Rated Marginal for driver monitoring and Poor for attention reminders, and adaptive cruise will resume after a stop even when the driver is not looking at the road. | |
| Ford Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop & Go and Lane Centering Assist | 2021-24 Ford Mustang Mach-E | Hands-on | Hands-on version of the Ford system. Same monitoring and reminders as BlueCruise; rated Poor because it can be used with required safety features off and its emergency procedure rated Marginal. | |
| Ford BlueCruise | 2021-24 Ford Mustang Mach-E | Hands-free | Hands-free system. IIHS reported that it alerts immediately when the driver's face or the camera lens is covered but does not detect hands occupied with a phone. Attention reminders met every requirement; the Poor overall rating comes from the safety-feature checks and the emergency procedure. | |
| Genesis Highway Driving Assist 2 | 2023-24 Genesis G90 | Hands-on | Hands-on system. IIHS reported that it takes no emergency action if the driver stops responding to warnings, and it failed every safety-feature requirement. | |
| Genesis Smart Cruise Control with Lane Following Assist | 2023-24 Genesis G90 | Hands-on | Hands-on version of the Genesis system. Same monitoring, reminder and emergency-procedure results as Highway Driving Assist 2: no emergency slowdown for an unresponsive driver. | |
| Lexus Dynamic Radar Cruise Control with Lane Tracing Assist | 2022-24 Lexus LS | Hands-on | Hands-on system offered on the same car as Teammate. IIHS reported that it takes no emergency action if the driver disengages and does not respond, failing every emergency-procedure requirement. | |
| Mercedes-Benz Active Distance Assist DISTRONIC with Active Steering Assist | 2022-23 Mercedes-Benz C-Class | Hands-on | Hands-on system. IIHS reported that the tested C-Class had no driver-facing camera, so the system can detect hands off the wheel but cannot tell where the driver is looking. | |
| Nissan ProPILOT Assist 2.0 | 2023-24 Nissan Ariya | Hands-free | Hands-free system. Met every safety-feature requirement but rated Poor for driver monitoring and Marginal for its emergency procedure. | |
| Tesla Autopilot, Version 2023.7.10 See Tesla safety and FSD statistics |
2021-23 Tesla Model 3 | Hands-on | Hands-on system. Rated Poor for driver monitoring, attention reminders, ACC resume, cooperative steering and safety features. The tested software predates the December 2023 recall that changed Autopilot's driver-engagement warnings; IIHS has not published a re-test. | |
| Tesla Full Self-Driving (Beta), Version 2023.7.10 See Tesla safety and FSD statistics |
2021-23 Tesla Model 3 | Hands-on | Hands-on system. Attention reminders rated Acceptable, close to the best systems, but it makes lane changes without driver confirmation, resumes adaptive cruise when the driver is not looking, and switches lane centering off when the driver steers. Tested software predates the December 2023 recall. | |
| Volvo Pilot Assist | 2022-24 Volvo S90 | Hands-on | Hands-on system. IIHS reported that it deactivates without an alert when the driver unbuckles, can be switched on with lane departure prevention disabled, and stays active if that feature is turned off mid-drive. It does not auto-resume adaptive cruise after a long stop. | |
Source: IIHS partial automation safeguard ratings and the 2024-03-12 release. The system descriptions paraphrase the IIHS release; the ratings are as published.
Rating by criterion
IIHS scores seven groups of requirements. A system's overall rating is limited by its weakest areas, which is why systems with several Good cells still rate Poor overall.
| System | Overall | Driver monitoring | Attention reminders | Emergency procedures | Lane change | ACC resume | Cooperative steering | Safety features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lexus Teammate with Advanced Drive 2022-24 Lexus LS |
M | G | A | G | A | G | G | |
| General Motors Super Cruise 2023-24 GMC Sierra |
P | G | G | P | A | P | G | |
| Nissan ProPILOT Assist with Navi-link 2023-24 Nissan Ariya |
M | A | M | G | G | G | A | |
| BMW Active Driving Assistant Pro 2023-24 BMW X1 |
M | P | A | G | P | G | A | |
| Ford Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop & Go and Lane Centering Assist 2021-24 Ford Mustang Mach-E |
A | G | M | G | G | G | P | |
| Ford BlueCruise 2021-24 Ford Mustang Mach-E |
A | G | M | G | M | G | P | |
| Genesis Highway Driving Assist 2 2023-24 Genesis G90 |
P | P | P | G | M | G | P | |
| Genesis Smart Cruise Control with Lane Following Assist 2023-24 Genesis G90 |
P | P | P | G | G | G | P | |
| Lexus Dynamic Radar Cruise Control with Lane Tracing Assist 2022-24 Lexus LS |
P | P | P | G | G | G | M | |
| Mercedes-Benz Active Distance Assist DISTRONIC with Active Steering Assist 2022-23 Mercedes-Benz C-Class |
M | P | A | G | G | G | P | |
| Nissan ProPILOT Assist 2.0 2023-24 Nissan Ariya |
P | A | M | G | G | G | G | |
| Tesla Autopilot, Version 2023.7.10 2021-23 Tesla Model 3 |
P | P | A | G | P | P | P | |
| Tesla Full Self-Driving (Beta), Version 2023.7.10 2021-23 Tesla Model 3 |
P | A | A | P | P | P | P | |
| Volvo Pilot Assist 2022-24 Volvo S90 |
P | P | M | G | G | G | P |
G = Good, A = Acceptable, M = Marginal, P = Poor. Criterion definitions: Driver monitoring: Detects when the driver's eyes leave the road, hands are not ready to steer, the camera lens is blocked or the face is obscured. Attention reminders: Audible plus visual alerts within 10 seconds of disengagement, and a third alert type or emergency slowdown by 20 seconds. Emergency procedures: Slows the vehicle within 35 seconds if the driver never responds, sends an SOS, and locks the driver out for the rest of the drive. Lane change: Automated lane changes are started or confirmed by the driver. ACC resume: Adaptive cruise does not resume on its own after a stop of two minutes or more, or while the driver is looking away. Cooperative steering: Lane centering keeps helping when the driver steers instead of switching off. Safety features: Will not engage if the driver is unbelted or AEB or lane departure prevention is off, and those features cannot be disabled while automation is active.
What a Good rating requires
Partial automation (adaptive cruise control plus lane centering, SAE Level 2) can hold speed and lane position for long stretches, but it cannot handle every construction zone, lane split, stopped vehicle or emergency scene, so the driver has to stay ready to take over. People are poor at supervising a system that works most of the time, which is why IIHS rates the safeguards rather than the steering. To earn Good, a system must:
- Monitor the driver's gaze and hand position.
- Use clear visual and audible alerts when attention leaves the road.
- Escalate those alerts promptly rather than repeating a mild reminder indefinitely.
- Slow and stop the vehicle if the driver never responds, then lock the system out for the rest of the drive.
- Require the driver to start or confirm automated lane changes.
- Keep helping when the driver adjusts steering instead of abruptly switching lane centering off.
- Refuse to resume adaptive cruise after a long stop or while the driver is looking away.
- Refuse to operate when the driver is unbelted or when AEB or lane departure prevention is disabled.
The specific thresholds matter. Alerts must start within 10 seconds of the driver disengaging and escalate by 20 seconds; if the driver still does nothing, the car must begin slowing within 35 seconds, send an SOS and refuse to re-engage for the rest of the drive. In the first round, only Super Cruise met every emergency-procedure requirement, and only Lexus Teammate cleared enough of the rest to rate Acceptable.
Two design choices separate the best and worst systems. Camera-based monitoring that watches head pose and gaze can tell whether the driver is looking at the road; steering-torque monitoring only proves a hand is on the wheel, and the tested Mercedes-Benz C-Class had no driver-facing camera at all. And a system that keeps helping when the driver steers (cooperative steering) is safer than one that silently switches lane centering off, which is what Super Cruise and both Tesla systems did.
How to use these ratings when you shop
Start with the rating for the exact system and software version, then confirm it applies to the car in front of you. IIHS cautions that a result for one tested vehicle does not automatically apply to every model carrying the same branded system, and an over-the-air update can change attention warnings, operating conditions or the interface after the test. That makes these ratings less durable than a crash-test result; the Tesla rows are the clearest example, since the tested software predates a recall that changed the warnings.
During a dealership demonstration, ask to see how the display shows that lane centering and adaptive cruise are active, the first attention warning and how it escalates, where the driver-facing camera is and what happens when it is blocked, whether the system works only on mapped roads, how the driver takes over steering, and whether AEB can be switched off while automation stays on. Do not stage a failure on a public road.
Whatever the rating, treat the package as a convenience. IIHS reports no crash-reduction advantage for cars with partial automation over the same cars with only crash-avoidance features, so a good safeguard rating should never outrank Good crash tests, automatic emergency braking and Good headlights in your budget. Our ranking of safety features by evidence puts the numbers side by side.
Questions people ask
Which hands-free driving system has the best IIHS safeguard rating?
Lexus Teammate with Advanced Drive, tested in the 2022-24 Lexus LS, is the only system rated Acceptable. No system has earned Good. 2 systems rate Marginal and 11 rate Poor in the IIHS round released 2024-03-12.
Does a Poor safeguard rating mean the car is unsafe?
No. The safeguard rating measures only how well the system keeps the driver watching the road and what it does when the driver stops responding. It is separate from the crash tests, and IIHS notes that no partial automation system has shown a crash-reduction benefit beyond the AEB and lane-keeping features it is built on, whatever its safeguard rating.
How is Tesla Autopilot rated by IIHS?
Both Tesla systems tested, Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (Beta), rated Poor in a 2021-23 Model 3 running software version 2023.7.10. That software predates the December 2023 recall that changed the driver-engagement warnings, and IIHS has not published a re-test. Our Tesla safety page covers the crash tests and death-rate data separately.
Does the rating apply to every car with the same system name?
No. IIHS rates one system in one vehicle and software version and cautions that the result does not automatically carry over to other models with the same branded system, especially after an over-the-air update. Confirm the exact model, model year and software before relying on a rating.
Has IIHS rated any systems after the first round?
As of 2026-09-03, the IIHS ratings page lists the same 14 systems published on 2024-03-12. We re-check the page with each data update and will add new rounds here.