9mo ago

Automatic emergency braking is getting better at preventing crashes

www.theverge.com

28 comments

Well I'd hope it's not getting worse lol
- This just in: Technology Improves Incrementally Over Time!
  
  Wait! I hear the cost of things goes up by a few percent each year. Budgets, pricing, costs, estimates, they all seem linked to this weird percentage increase. Is it s conspiracy?
  
  Meanwhile, human driving skill seems to be getting worse over time
- Wait till you see what Tesla has done
Agree with the automakers that the tech isn't ready.
The article doesn't mention how many times these cars slammed the brakes in false positive situations.
The cars I've driven with this are too conservative with braking in a lot of common scenarios like driving curvy mountain roads, or parallel parking in the city near pedestrians or taxis. I've had it brake multiple times in normal driving scenarios wtirh false positives.
The car takes over and decides to full stop immediately, almost causing me to be rear ended multiple times. Eventually the dealership turned off the feature, but only after multiple complaints from customers and media attention.
I vowed to never get another car with this system because of how bad the experience is. But looks like that may be an option only with used cars, due to the bew mandates.
- I put a bike on a trunk rack on the back of our Toyota. It thought a bike was behind the car and kept slamming on the brakes while trying to back out of the driveway.
  Then there's the lane assist that jerks the wheel while going through construction zones, because the lines on the road don't match up with where you need to be.
- I've also had mixed results. My 2018 Prius is flawless, not a single false brake in nearly seven years. We recently purchased a Tesla (I know, I know, long story) and we had to turn the braking sensitivity so far down that the feature is now basically useless.
  
  Tesla uses cameras because Musk is an idiot
- Agree with the automakers that the tech isn’t ready.
  It may be model-specific, and some may be better than others.
  I drove a Lincoln MKS for a few months and it was a wonderful machine. A little big for the cars I like to drive (a beetle owner from way back) but everything was well-done. The sensing and reaction was exactly right.
- I found you can actually override it in cars I've driven by accelerating. It assumes the driver knows better, and stops braking.
- What car manufacturer was it? I've gotten to the point of trading my newer car and find an semi old one for this same reason
  
  Audi Pre-Sense was the worst offender. Looks like many others have similar experiences even this year:
  https://web.archive.org/web/20221016080422/https://www.reddit.com/r/Audi/comments/rggdis/audi_presense_collision_just_scared_the_crap_out/
  https://web.archive.org/web/20240119200441/https://www.businessinsider.com/audi-driver-says-pre-sense-safety-feature-almost-killed-them-2023-12
  I had a Nissan after that that implemented it a lot better, never any slam the brakes events. It would warn you with a beep and apply light braking first.
  https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY/ARCHIVE/EMERGENCY_BRAKE/
- Never had an issue in my Volvo (late P3 generation)!
- Seems to me it really should only turn on at low speeds in the first place. Avoiding hitting someone in a parking lot etc.
  
  So you don't want it to activate at highway speeds if the driver doesn't realize that traffic has stopped?
- Never once had an issue. Never once have met an actual person who has had it happen.
  I very much doubt you have driven multiple cars with this happening. I think you're likely making it up.
  Which models have you had issues with?
  
  Never had a hitch mount or trunk mount bike rack (or luggage rack, or electric wheelchair rack, or even an actual trailer) before?
  Also they mention what vehicles they've used with the feature.
My automated emergency breaking is worse than if it was disabled. It only works on false-positives. I had a minor collision and the system reached after the crash. Another time I could break early on, but the breaks didn't disengage until restarting the ignition.
We have a 2020 Honda Civic, and the automatic breaking in that is absolutely fantastic. The closest I would say it gets to a false positive is when you're following a car on the highway that takes an exit. When the car in front starts to slow after taking the exit, the Civic will sometimes slow a bit even though the other car isn't right in front of us anymore. It's a simple matter to push the accelerator to override.

28 comments