Why ADAS Is Being Disabled in India And How Starkenn Is Solving This Real Problem
- Marketing Starkenn
- Jan 27
- 4 min read
Table of contents
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) have been touted globally as a major step forward in vehicle safety, aiming to reduce accidents and support drivers with features like automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane keeping assist (LKA), adaptive cruise control (ACC), and blind-spot detection. However, in India, an unexpected trend has emerged: many drivers switch ADAS off. This isn’t due to a lack of interest in safety, it’s because most ADAS systems aren’t built for the unique challenges of Indian roads.
Indian Roads: The Toughest Test for ADAS
India’s road environment is one of the most complex in the world. Unlike highways in western countries with well-marked lanes and predictable traffic flow, Indian roads often feature:
Faded or unreliable lane markings
Mixed traffic including two-wheelers, rickshaws, carts, and pedestrians
Erratic driver behaviour and sudden manoeuvres
Visual clutter from dust, glare, rain, and low light
These conditions present significant problems for ADAS technologies designed primarily for structured environments. Common issues reported include frequent false warnings, unnecessary braking, or incorrect lane detection, leading drivers to disable ADAS features altogether to avoid frustration.
In fact, industry discussions note that ADAS systems especially those relying mainly on cameras can misinterpret real-world Indian traffic, sometimes reacting to harmless objects or failing to recognise critical situations correctly.
Why Camera-Centric ADAS Struggles in India
Most ADAS implementations today are heavily dependent on camera-based vision systems. While cameras excel in detecting visual cues under good conditions, they have inherent limitations on Indian roads:
Cameras rely on visible lane markings, which are often absent or inconsistent here.
Dust, glare, rain, and low light can dramatically reduce camera effectiveness.
Complex traffic patterns including small, fast-moving objects like two-wheelers and stray animals are difficult to interpret reliably with vision alone.
Research shows that systems trained on structured environments frequently fail when exposed to unstructured road scenes, which is a hallmark of Indian traffic.
The High Stakes: India Needs ADAS, But It Needs It to Work
Despite these challenges, the demand for ADAS in India is growing rapidly driven by safety concerns and high accident rates. A survey found that a large percentage of Indian drivers support ADAS and are willing to adopt vehicles equipped with safety technologies, even though actual ownership of such vehicles remains lower than demand.
India’s automotive safety ecosystem is also evolving. Regulatory changes under Bharat NCAP and other initiatives are pushing for broader adoption of safety features, making ADAS not just desirable but increasingly standard.
However, broader adoption only makes sense if the technology works reliably in the environments where vehicles actually operate.
Radar: The Missing Piece for Reliable ADAS in India
Here’s where the technology discussion shifts in favour of radar-based sensing.
Unlike cameras, radar does not depend on visual clarity. Instead, radar uses radio waves that can penetrate dust, glare, rain, fog and darkness, making it far more robust in diverse and challenging conditions precisely the kind India presents.
A major automotive media outlet highlighted how radar is becoming a game changer for ADAS in India because it:
Works reliably in adverse weather
Detects objects at distance even with poor visibility
Complements camera systems for better reliability
This makes radar an indispensable sensor for ADAS that must handle real-world Indian conditions.
Starkenn’s Radar-Focused ADAS: Built for India, Not Imported
At Starkenn, we designed our ADAS solutions with the Indian context first, not as an afterthought.
What Makes Starkenn Different?
Radar-First Sensing: Our systems leverage radar’s ability to detect objects reliably in dust, rain, glare and low visibility so ADAS works consistently rather than sporadically.
Local Calibration: Systems are trained and tested on Indian traffic data, not just imported patterns ensuring better understanding of everyday road behaviour.
Fewer False Alerts: By fusing radar with other sensor inputs intelligently, Starkenn reduces annoying false warnings that lead drivers to disable features.
Designed for Mixed Traffic: Whether it’s two-wheelers weaving through traffic or animals crossing unexpectedly, the system adapts to unpredictable scenarios, not just ideal ones.
In short, Starkenn’s radar-based ADAS is not just another tech feature, it’s a road-tested safety solution tailored to India’s realities.
From Frustration to Trust: The Road Ahead
ADAS has enormous potential to reduce road accidents in India, one of the highest globally if the systems are trustworthy and context-aware. But for technology to be embraced, drivers must feel confident that it works where it truly matters.
That’s exactly the shift Starkenn is driving from ADAS features that get turned off due to unreliability, to ADAS that stays on because it genuinely helps.
Because in India, safety isn’t a buzzword, it’s a condition of the road.