Scary new tech moment

[Speary8]

I was out on an advanced observer training run on Sunday, sat in the back of a newish VW golf. My trainee observer was just advising the associate on the system when there was a beep and the car did a full emergency stop. Why!!! A bloody crisp packet blew in front of the car albeit a family sized bag.
Surely that can’t be safe. Had a following vehicle been a bit close or the driver wasn’t switched on I am almost certain we would have been rear ended.
Needless to say it’s made the VW owner rather nervous.
If I had this on my car I would turn it off if possible. To be honest I would rather use good observation and planning to avoid emergency situations rather than some of the new tech which doesn’t appear to be very intelligent at times

[Haltamer]

I've got a relatively "low-intervention" (Only works in very immediate vicinity; Cars sub 20mph and mitigation above this speed) LIDAR System on the Civic which I'd say is where things should be in my opinion. It has saved me from incidents in the past (First year of driving ) and is an effective system - But it has never activated for something other than an immediate and pressing hazard.

On the other hand, The even newer radar based systems with pedestrian and higher speed collision prevention seem to go too far - I've heard from a large number of people with them that have had their brakes triggered for signs / non-issues / fairies etc.

[And then she]

Speary8 said:

I was out on an advanced observer training run on Sunday, sat in the back of a newish VW golf. My trainee observer was just advising the associate on the system when there was a beep and the car did a full emergency stop. Why!!! A bloody crisp packet blew in front of the car albeit a family sized bag.
Surely that can’t be safe. Had a following vehicle been a bit close or the driver wasn’t switched on I am almost certain we would have been rear ended.
Needless to say it’s made the VW owner rather nervous.
If I had this on my car I would turn it off if possible. To be honest I would rather use good observation and planning to avoid emergency situations rather than some of the new tech which doesn’t appear to be very intelligent at times

The Golf's emergency stop is not the unsafe part of your example.

[dvenman]

And then she said:

Speary8 said:

...
Surely that can’t be safe. Had a following vehicle been a bit close or the driver wasn’t switched on I am almost certain we would have been rear ended.
Needless to say it’s made the VW owner rather nervous.

The Golf's emergency stop is not the unsafe part of your example.

Why?

[Terminator X]

My car tends to slam the anchors on if in reverse and a car pulls past behind. It is a pretty major jolt tbf and not a welcome one at that!

TX.

[Scabutz]

dvenman said:

And then she said:

Speary8 said:

...
Surely that can’t be safe. Had a following vehicle been a bit close or the driver wasn’t switched on I am almost certain we would have been rear ended.
Needless to say it’s made the VW owner rather nervous.

The Golf's emergency stop is not the unsafe part of your example.

Why?

Because an emergency stop can happen at any time and if the car behind is too close or not paying attention then it's their fault. Regardless of whether the driver or computer slams the anchors on the car behind should be able to stop

[Haltamer]

Scabutz said:

Because an emergency stop can happen at any time and if the car behind is too close or not paying attention then it's their fault. Regardless of whether the driver or computer slams the anchors on the car behind should be able to stop

Whilst I do agree, would you not be a bit miffed, impact or no, if the car in front was to go from normal motoring to intimidate 100% braking with no warning what so ever?

One of the principles of Advanced driving, and common sense is making effective use of the available braking space to also mitigate risks of impacts from behind - In this case, perhaps a nice early heavy braking stage, followed by a letting off, allowing the car behind to drop speed.

[johnao]

Speary8 said:

I was out on an advanced observer training run on Sunday, sat in the back of a newish VW golf. My trainee observer was just advising the associate on the system when there was a beep and the car did a full emergency stop. Why!!! A bloody crisp packet blew in front of the car albeit a family sized bag.
Surely that can’t be safe. Had a following vehicle been a bit close or the driver wasn’t switched on I am almost certain we would have been rear ended.
Needless to say it’s made the VW owner rather nervous.

If I had this on my car I would turn it off if possible. To be honest I would rather use good observation and planning to avoid emergency situations rather than some of the new tech which doesn’t appear to be very intelligent at times

I also have a newish VW Golf, and I've had a similar conversation with myself, but, eventually, came to a different conclusion. Initially, I switched off the City Emergency Braking System. But, then, I thought what if? What if I have a collision with a pedestrian which is completely unavoidable? Let's say a child runs in the road and a collision is inevitable, where even the City Emergency Braking wouldn't have saved the child's life. Notwithstanding the fact that there was nothing I could have done to avoid the collision would I really want to put myself in a position of having to answer the prosecution Barrister's inevitable question... "Mr Johnao, can you please explain to the Court why you turned off the City Emergency Braking System on your car? A system designed to protect the lives of vulnerable pedestrians and other road users. A system that would, in all probability, have saved the life of this unfortunate child."?

So, I've set the system to its lowest sensitivity. Which, I think, is the best compromise.

Incidentally, the Golf's party piece is that when in a stationary queue of traffic and the engine has been switched off by the stop/start system the lidar-based element of the emergency braking system will automatically restart the engine when the car immediately in front moves away.

[Pica-Pica]

So did the observer say to the associate, “have you read the handbook, and are you familiar with all the systems on this car, and have you decided there are any you want to switch off?” ?

You should down-mark the trainee observer (or yourself, perhaps).

[vonhosen]

Scabutz said:

dvenman said:

And then she said:

Speary8 said:

...
Surely that can’t be safe. Had a following vehicle been a bit close or the driver wasn’t switched on I am almost certain we would have been rear ended.
Needless to say it’s made the VW owner rather nervous.

The Golf's emergency stop is not the unsafe part of your example.

Why?

Because an emergency stop can happen at any time and if the car behind is too close or not paying attention then it's their fault. Regardless of whether the driver or computer slams the anchors on the car behind should be able to stop

Following vehicle isn't necessarily held most liable in all cases.

See
https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/brenda-mitch...

&
Ayers v Singh 1997

[RobM77]

Scabutz said:

dvenman said:

And then she said:

Speary8 said:

...
Surely that can’t be safe. Had a following vehicle been a bit close or the driver wasn’t switched on I am almost certain we would have been rear ended.
Needless to say it’s made the VW owner rather nervous.

The Golf's emergency stop is not the unsafe part of your example.

Why?

Because an emergency stop can happen at any time and if the car behind is too close or not paying attention then it's their fault. Regardless of whether the driver or computer slams the anchors on the car behind should be able to stop

We need to be careful here to separate 'cause' and 'fault'. The car's computers would have contributed to the cause of the accident and it would be the fault of the person behind. It's the responsibility of any driver to avoid both, not just the latter, and the car's computers have failed at that, thus the OP's dismay.