In 2018, a Nissan intern sat in 64 standstill traffic jams in six major metropolitans to help enhance Nissan's ProPILOT Assist hands-on driver assist system. That intern’s work along with customer feedback has led to three key improvements on the upgraded ProPILOT Assist with Navi-link system, which is now available on the 2021 Nissan Rogue and 2022 Pathfinder. 

Specifically, intern Tyler Szymkowski was part of a team charged with evaluating how the ProPILOT Assist functioned in stop-and-go traffic. In 2018, the original system was capable of bringing the vehicle to a full stop, holding in place for three seconds and resuming forward movement when traffic started moving again. If more than three seconds passed, the driver needed to tap the accelerator pedal to reengage the system.

The problem was that customers felt three seconds was too short a timespan. How long the system could sit and then reengage to make the experience more seamless was something Nissan needed to pinpoint — and that’s when they sent Szymkowski to scope it out sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. He collected data in some of the country’s most congested cities and ultimately, Nissan settled on a new hold time of 30 seconds. 

Today, on freeways, drivers with ProPILOT Assist now have up to 30 seconds before having to press the resume function button or tap the accelerator during standstill traffic.

In addition, Nissan listened to customers and has incorporated two more improvements into the latest version of ProPILOT Assist — both of which can enhance roadway safety. 

For starters, the system now syncs with the car's navigation to better predict the freeway ahead. That means the system can reduce the vehicle's speed for tight freeway curves and off-ramps allowing for a more intuitive and potentially safer drive. In addition, the connection to the vehicle's navigation gives drivers the option to quickly adjust their speed to the posted speed limit based on traffic sign recognition technology.