I read an article yesterday about popular new car features. The most popular was good fuel mileage followed by the newer safety features.
Same here with ABS. Was allowed to take a Sheriff Dept Crown Vic on a closed course. The “finish line” was a space marked with cones, instructed to enter the area at speed, then hit the brake as hard as I could, the ABS brought the car to a quick straight stop.
I agree is the safety systems are coming on enough to be obtrusive or annoying, it’s not the system, it’s the driver.
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I don’t know if this is a new feature to you or not, but I will point out that sometimes in heavy snow you want to turn off traction control if it’s more important to keep your forward momentum going than to keep the car in a perfectly straight line. I need to do this occasionally for our somewhat steep driveway.
There was a person here some time ago that claimed her new vehicle would just lose power and be hard to control . The dealer could not find a problem . After several trips someone from the dealer rode with her and found out she could not maintaine lane control so the safety systems were being activated . I always wondered if she took driving lessons or just got better at driving.
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In the Facebook group for my vehicle, a woman complained that, when she is on the highway, her Cruise Control fails to maintain the set speed, in that it slows her car down when she comes up behind another vehicle in her lane. All of the responses told her that the Adaptive Cruise Control was working exactly as it was designed, and that she should try not following other cars so closely.
She also stated that while she was in an intersection, the AEB suddenly engaged when a car crossed her path.
She wanted to know how to disengage the AEB.
A couple of people suggested that she might want to take a refresher course on the topic of defensive driving.
Some folks have problems with too much tech. When looking at the 2023 Lexus NX350, the only one they had was a ‘used’ one that the buyer returned after a couple of weeks. ‘Too much tech’ was the reason given.
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Well, some people do have problems adapting to any kind of change, and that type of problem seems to be exacerbated as they age.
So if it is an issue in the car wash, what happens in the garage?
In the garage, the forward vision and side vision cameras show me my exact clearances, which is very helpful because this vehicle is 2 inches wider than my previous one. If I was to overrun my tire stops, the AEB would stop the car because of the limited clearance before I would hit the rear wall. Of course, the PA is telling me (screaming at me) that I am getting too close, but by now I know when I am correctly positioned, so I can ignore it.
Bing, I’m no expert on Lane Assist, as I have not driven in snow with those vehicles, but I’m pretty sure that it would not work if there is little or no visible lane lines (snow covered) for the system to pick up on…
And as for a follow up on my previous posting, I was out driving today and I decided to test the responsiveness on my 2019 Toyota Lane Assist and it worked normally while “wandering” in my lane or when I changed lanes without using the directional.
However, when I made abrupt lane changes as if simulating defensive lane changing to “avoid road debris or a stopped vehicle in front of me”, the Lane Assist did not react or thump the wheel to distract me. My guess, it happened faster than the system could react,
So, Like I wrote earlier, I’ll keep using it so “Daddy remembers to use the Directional…”
My wife doesn’t like being screamed at, but if it helps her park so I can get into my door parked next to her, scream away.
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For me, the most annoying “safety system” is one that cannot be turned off. For example, automatic headlights. I have this feature on my 2014 Subaru and sometimes I use it, when I want to, but my 2007 Chevrolet Silverado also has it and it cannot be turned off. That I don’t like, but it is controlled by the body control module so it is not easy to just rewire.
I am sorry, I do not understand your opposition for Automatic Headlights, unless you are a Police Officer or Private Investigator. I think this safety feature is perhaps the least intrusive of all. It does not affect the way your car handles and it really makes your vehicle all the more noticeable to other drivers.
Perhaps the most often used excuse used to explain an accident is, “I did not see the other car…”
For crying out loud this is a problem for you ? You probably don’t like Daytime Running Lights either .
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I don’t have them but my I have seen to many drivers running after dark with no tail lights on.
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I don’t mind them but I was surprised when I could not totally shut my lights off and have the car running. The on,y time this was a problem was during the lockdown. We could not meet inside so had a candl light church service in the parking lot. Might have been Christmas Eve, don’t remember. It was about ten below though so had to keep the car running. For warmth. Dang parking lights stayed on no matter what. Like having your lights on at a drive in movie. Never heard of this before.
I bet that if we still had drive in movies there would be some idiot’s that would do that and would not care as long as they could have the heat or AC on.
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Yes that’s a good basic place to start. Although the generation of the chassis strength and weight difference is something you might want to consider. If you hit someone’s 2015 Corolla head on at 42 MPH (84 combined) in a moderate overlap crash, you would probably not survive due to being crushed. It is safer for the back seat passengers though. But then again if you hit head on at 52 MPH (104 combined) in a typical more modern car you likely wouldn’t survive either.
There are some cars where the momentary electric parking brake switch will do this too!
As far as the safety features, I think it is important to consider what they are for. They could be to:
- Protect you from your own driving mistakes.
- Help protect the insurance industry by reducing less severe accidents, and reduce payouts, even if it might actually increase the risk of a fatality.
- Help protect you from another driver’s mistake
Lane assist:
This one is purely to protect a driver from their own mistakes. If the vehicle is driven properly, the driver will have both hands on the steering wheel and the small input to the steering that the lane assist provides does not prevent the driver from steering when needed, or taking over if the lane assist starts to follow the wrong line. The only risk here that I see is if a driver starts to loose focus on driving due to the assistence provided by the lane assist. This problem has lead to numerous accidents with Tesla’s automatic driving. A 2008 Volvo beeps but doesn’t move the steering wheel.
Blind spot warning:
It’s a good thing, so long as the driver does not change their driving habits to depend on it. I think the kind that beeps when the turn signal is used when a car is in the blind spot is excellent. It’s hard for the driver to develop dependence on that system, unless they start using their turn signal without even checking the mirrors. Volvo puts the lane occupied light under the mirror, forcing you to look at the mirror anyway.
Pre collision brake assist:
Another one to protect the driver from their mistakes. If the road is turning to the left (and we drive on the right) and somebody turns off to the right or pulls to the right, the brake assist can activate when it shouldn’t not knowing that road turns to the left and the vehicle that is turning right is not going to be hit. I guess the lane assist is supposed to work with this to figure it out, but it may not always work. The added cost of the auto brake assist will probably never pay for itself with a good driver. With bad drivers with cell phones and other distrations it is needed. Unexpected braking could be dangerous at highways speeds. If you get hit in the rear you could easily end up in a roll over accident. I wouldn’t turn it on on a divided highway that is moving at highway speeds.
Electronic stability control (ABS enhancement):
Mandatory in the US since 2012. Only Volvo and some expensive cars had it before. It’s the only thing that wolud make me okay with having front wheel ABS turned on on a highway. It’s generally a very good thing that should have been included with 4 wheel ABS from the beginning. It protects the driver from their mistakes, it reduces accidents and protects insurance, and it protects you from losing control and crashing when you get hit in the back.
ABS:
Rear wheel only ABS has alwasy been great. Four wheel ABS is questionable. It reduces the number of rear end accidents by allowing vehicles to steer away while braking. The insurance industry loves it. These accidents would have otherwise been quite minor as injuries go for the most part though, althoug the payout from the insurance would still be high to replace two totaled vehicles. The negative is that it prevents a driver from regaining control by slamming on the brakes and letting the front wheels skid. Before ABS, slamming on the brakes could be done when starting to lose control of a vehicle to keep the situation from getting worse. I believe four wheel ABS (without ESC) contributes to a lot of roll over accidents. It’s especially dangerous for trucks and SUVs. I don’t know if having ESC or rear only ABS is safer.
Dual stage airbags:
If the alternative the weak post 1997 airbag, then this is a must at least for the driver side. You won’t hear much publicity about this.
Seat belt load limiters:
A good thing unless it is designed for a specific crash test dummy in a specific crash test. Unfortunately this is the case with many vehicles beginning in 1998. Toyota has been one of the worst. There is very little information published about this, which I believe is a crash test cheating scandal, and possibly having to do with insurance realizing that having somebody die might be cheaper than an accident in a car that protects the head and chest. If someone weighs more than 180 pounds and is in good health, this is the number one safety issue that needs to be addressed before any of the other stuff.
I just sold my 2018 Mazda 6 and bought a 2022 Mazda CX-5. They both have all the latest safety technology and it works great. I don’t find it intrusive but it occasionally misunderstands traffic conditions and simply errs on the side of caution. I do find many people don’t like the Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) or collision avoidance feature. This is because they follow the car in front too closely. When that car goes to turn it’s forward velocity decreases and the closing rate between you and them suddenly increases. Folks, there is no way for your car to know that the car in front is turning until it completely clears out from in front of you. In these circumstances your AEB will blare out brake warnings and slam on the brakes.
The solution to this AEB dilemma is to increase your following distance and brake gently if the car in front of you is taking the turn a bit slowly. In five years I have experienced the collision warning once.
I have experienced the Pre-Collision Brake Assist multiple times and it is scary and it WORKS. While it pins me against the safety belt each time, the car always stops well short of the potential obstacle (car, deer, wayward pedestrian, etc). I will never go back to a car without the great safety features I have now. They don’t make me a perfect driver, but they sure bolster my safety as a pretty decent driver.
Personally I especially love the radar cruise control that keeps me from having to brake all the time in moderate traffic. It also works great in traffic jams on the highway.
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