GM's new technology will help avoid bad roads
General Motors has filed a patent application for a system that will be able to warn drivers in advance of poor road conditions ahead. As GM Authority found out, the application was filed back on 15 December 2023, but it appeared in the public domain only on 19 June 2025 under the number US 2025/0200526 A1.
Here's What We Know
The system is expected to use sensors and cameras on the car to collect data about the road: movements of suspension elements, vibrations, wheel rotation and visual defects. The information will be transmitted to the cloud to calculate a road surface condition index - the so-called Road Maintenance Score.
If a bad road ahead is detected, the navigator will suggest an alternative route, and road services will be notified of pavement problems in a particular area.
The technology is expected to work in conjunction with Super Cruise, GM's autopilot system that already covers 750,000 miles of roads in the US and Canada.
A notional depiction of how the bad-road detection system works. Source: GM Authority
This isn't the only GM patent aimed at improving comfort and safety. In May, the company applied for a system to assess driver psycho-emotional state that could prevent outbursts of aggression behind the wheel. And in 2023, GM proposed using an augmented reality tinting windscreen to combat the blinding headlights of oncoming cars.
So far, none of these applications have turned into actual systems, but they show the direction automakers are working in.
Source: GM Authority
