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Seltos' ADAS feature saved me from disaster: Fell asleep while driving

14th March 2024, 09:33 by Rahul Nagaraj

I had thankfully turned on the adaptive cruise control and all 3 lane features.

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Last night I had to go to the airport to pick up my relatives who were arriving on a late-night flight at 2 AM. I had planned to leave home by 12:30 AM, and I wanted to take some rest in the afternoon, however, due to some or other work I could not rest, nor did I get an opportunity later in the evening. I then decided to let go of sleep altogether because if I slept at around 10/11 PM, I would not have got up in time (I am a very very sound sleeper).

At 12:30 AM, I left my home in GZB and took the DME. As soon as I got on, I don't know what prompted me (surely it was God), and I turned on the ACC and all 3 lane features (LKA, LDW & LFA). I was cruising all along till Akarshardham when suddenly I felt the strong jerks in the steering and the car sway towards the left.

I was jolted and it didn't take long for me to realise that I had slept off. I think it was only for a very very brief period, less than half a minute I think, because I was still near Akshardham. I turned on the hazard lights and pulled over towards the side. I was in shock and numb. I had narrowly missed a disaster. I had fresh water with me, I washed my face thoroughly and decided to go to the breakout point just a few meters ahead at the start of Yamuna Bridge have a cup of tea and think over what just happened.

Clearly, lack of sleep had taken its toll. While I was attentive and well prepared mentally that I had to drive and wouldn't get sleep at least for the next few hours, my body failed me, even if for a few seconds. Those few seconds were enough to cause irreparable damage. The only thing that saved me last night was ADAS!! If I had not turned on the lane assist features, I would have surely crashed into the median and given the speed (exactly 70 KM/Hr) my car was in, it would have been a fatal crash.

The other thing I realised is that ACC only works if there is a moving vehicle ahead, it does not work in case the barrier ahead is a stationary object because my car had not slowed down during the near miss. (more on this in my next post)

I thanked my stars, God, and the engineers at KIA for my lucky escape resumed my journey and drove at a speed below 60 throughout. Thankfully the rest of the journey (& the return journey) was uneventful.

I will make another post on what lessons I learnt from this near-miss.