Advanced Safety Features in Newer Vehicles

[Music City Mama]

What are your thoughts on the more advanced safety features in newer vehicles? I'm talking about more than blind-spot detection or a monitor to alert you of oncoming movement when backing out of a parking space, but things like this:

Road Departure Mitigation System (RDM)
When RDM it active, an exterior camera is trained to scan the road for lane markings. If your vehicle seems to be leaving the road, an alert will sound and automatic braking could follow if no driver intervention is detected.

Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS)
Like RDM, the LKAS scans the roadway to detect lane markings. When the system detects you are straying from your lane without using a turn signal, it can gently nudge you back to center.

Collision Mitigation Braking System™ (CMBS™)
The Honda Sensing CMBS™ system utilizes a series of front-mounted exterior cameras to scan the road ahead. If the system detects an oncoming collision with another vehicle, it can automatically push the brakes.

I test drove a car this weekend that automatically comes with these kinds of features. The reason I have to purchase a new vehicle is because I was in an accident last week and was fortunately able to swerve away to avoid a head-on collision. But it makes me nervous thinking about a vehicle trying to keep me in the center (like LKAS above) if I'm purposely trying to swerve. The CMBS particularly makes me nervous. I've read some stories online where this function has kicked in when it shouldn't (like on the interstate). What if I'm able to easily avoid something in the road and car automatically brakes?

Anyone care to share their experience with these kinds of features, good and bad? I think I'm just overly sensitive to the vehicle having that kind of control after just having had a pretty bad accident.

 

[rotlex]

Bought a new CRV last year that has all of these features. I wasn't sure what to make of them until I started driving the car and experiencing them. Honestly, I was skeptical, but now that we have had it for a year, I wish our older cars had all these features.

For starters, you can turn any of them on or off, set preferences for them etc. The LKAS must be turned on every time you start the car if wanted anyway. I leave most of them turned on, except LKAS, unless I am using cruise control on very long\late night drives. None of them, even when turned on, force you to not be able to perform certain functions or counteract them. I can't speak for all brands, but Honda seems to have done a very good job of not allowing any of them to be to intrusive, or affect the way you normally drive.

 

[cvjw]

Love all these features. My 2014 Honda Odyssey touring elite had only some of the advanced safety features and they all worked perfectly.

Just purchased a 2019 Honda Pilot elite last week with all these features. You can turn off the LKAS if you don’t want it. Mine is off right now. We figure we will only use it on the interstate.

The RDM system can also be turned off. I have mine on right now and the steering wheel vibrates if you cross a line in the road and nudges the car towards the center of your lane. It is easily overridden with your own hands on the steering wheel.

The CMBS system hasn’t come on yet for me. My Odyssey would warn me if it thought I was going to hit something. It very rarely had a false alarm. I am sure this new system will be even better.

I am a big fan of the Honda safety features. They just work. We have some of these features on a Mazda and a Toyota. They work much better on our Honda. This is the reason we just purchased another one.

 

[cinnaminny]

I have some of these features on my car, it saved my husband from really rear-ending someone.

My husband just bought a new Expedition and it has all of that and then some. That is a very good point about the lane departure. I do think you can turn it off though. Something to think about.

 

[Colleen27]

I've heard from a couple of friends that they find the lane-departure systems impractical just because we have so many construction zones for so much of the year and the lane markings don't match the construction-adjusted traffic patterns so the system is reading leaving the lane when you're actually right where you're supposed to be. But as long as they toggle off that's not really a problem, other than in the sense of paying for a feature that isn't useful.

 

[momto2girls]

I have those type of options on my Volvo XC90. I like them. I can't speak for all types of cars, but with the lane assist feature on my car, it gently tries to nudge me to stay in the lane if I don't have my signal on, but it doesn't prevent me from changing lanes. I can still do it easily. There is just a slight shaking sensation while I am doing it. It definitely doesn't force me to stay in the lane.

 

[Lynne M]

I have the lane-keeping system on my car; I turned it off after a couple of days. I found that it made the car feel sluggish at time, jumpy at times. There was a noticeable difference in performance when I disabled it; the car felt much smoother and more responsive.

Now, the blind spot monitor is another story. I'll never buy another car without it. There's major highway construction going on in my area, and there are some temporary merges in construction zones that are just hair-raising. I've found the blind spot monitor to be a huge help. It's also very helpful when backing out of a space in a busy parking lot.

 

[Searc]

I turned off every thing I possibly could on my 2018. I found them distracting and obnoxious and didn't want them.

 

[lifesavacation]

What are your thoughts on the more advanced safety features in newer vehicles? I'm talking about more than blind-spot detection or a monitor to alert you of oncoming movement when backing out of a parking space, but things like this:

Road Departure Mitigation System (RDM)
When RDM it active, an exterior camera is trained to scan the road for lane markings. If your vehicle seems to be leaving the road, an alert will sound and automatic braking could follow if no driver intervention is detected.

Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS)
Like RDM, the LKAS scans the roadway to detect lane markings. When the system detects you are straying from your lane without using a turn signal, it can gently nudge you back to center.

Collision Mitigation Braking System™ (CMBS™)
The Honda Sensing CMBS™ system utilizes a series of front-mounted exterior cameras to scan the road ahead. If the system detects an oncoming collision with another vehicle, it can automatically push the brakes.

I test drove a car this weekend that automatically comes with these kinds of features. The reason I have to purchase a new vehicle is because I was in an accident last week and was fortunately able to swerve away to avoid a head-on collision. But it makes me nervous thinking about a vehicle trying to keep me in the center (like LKAS above) if I'm purposely trying to swerve. The CMBS particularly makes me nervous. I've read some stories online where this function has kicked in when it shouldn't (like on the interstate). What if I'm able to easily avoid something in the road and car automatically brakes?

Anyone care to share their experience with these kinds of features, good and bad? I think I'm just overly sensitive to the vehicle having that kind of control after just having had a pretty bad accident.

I have these on my Tesla. The collision braking takes some getting used to, and it still freaks me out on the freeway when the car phantom brakes. I personally find the lane keeping assist annoying. I never realized how often I drove outside the lanes until the car would push me back and I wouldn't characterize it as a gentle nudge. Things like going around a bus or a cyclist, avoiding a pothole/debris in the road, construction rerouting now require I use my blinker. If you're on a double lane road and the car in the next lane gets too close, you have to be really careful not to move outside your lane or it will try and move you back. It's unsettling when it happens.

 

[Music City Mama]

and it still freaks me out on the freeway when the car phantom brakes.

Why does it phantom brake? That's the kind of thing that worries me.

If you're on a double lane road and the car in the next lane gets too close, you have to be really careful not to move outside your lane or it will try and move you back. It's unsettling when it happens.

Again, this is the kind of thing that gives me anxiety.

When I test drove it, he was trying to get me not to brake to see what would happen and I couldn't do it -- I was just in an accident that could've ended very badly and still pretty freaked out. I did try the adaptive cruise control and LKAS and RDM though.

This would be for a 2019 Honda CR-V. I had 2016 CR-V that I bought in December 2016 and the only really advanced feature on that was the Honda Lane Watch -- which I had turned off except for when I pushed the button.

I think I can turn these features off, but I think I read that CMBS would have to be turned off every time you turned on the vehicle.

I guess I'm just an old fuddy duddy in my late 40's who can't embrace this kind of stuff -- maybe it's the control freak in me too.

 

[lifesavacation]

Why does it phantom brake? That's the kind of thing that worries me.

It only happens when autopilot is engaged and on the highway. Sometimes there's a car in the adjacent lane and my car doesn't like it. Sometimes I have no idea. It just brakes. It might be a TESLA thing.

 

[Christine]

I have all those features on my Toyota. The lane departure isn't such a huge deal but I love everything else. Honestly, though, I think these are GREAT features for elderly drivers whose eyesight might be deteriorating. My parents who are in their 70s are enjoying these features.

 

[_19disnA]

I turned off every thing I possibly could on my 2018. I found them distracting and obnoxious and didn't want them.

Same here, have had these features on various recent rental cars made by various manufacturers. Isn't always obvious how to turn them off, since each company has different features. Totally annoying, when something is always flashing/beeping/chiming/lighting up some warning during normal driving. If you try to change lanes, it thinks you are wandering and (incorrectly) warns you. Personally, I think these features will tend to make people LESS attentive/aware when driving.

 

[Hikergirl]

What happens if you have to leave your lane swiftly for an emergency?
I'm like Will Smith in iRobot- I prefer to do my driving.
IMO these things are a blessing and a curse, they will be helpful for some people but I think people will end up relying on them too much and in the near future we will see way more bad drivers because they have no idea how to pay attention to their surroundings and they will have no idea how to handle their vehicle.

 

[NotUrsula]

I just got a new car with all this, after totaling my old one by rear-ending a stopped driving who was waiting for the car ahead of him to turn left. It was low-speed, and my fault; I was distracted when I reached for a tissue and the box that is normally in my console wasn't there (we won't discuss who moved it.) The accident would not have been severe enough to total my car had it been new, but it was 10 years old.

Mostly I like the advanced safety features (though I'm on the fence about the lane change warning; might turn that one off yet), but I've just discovered one of the downsides: increased repair costs. I took a pebble ding to my windshield last week, 8 weeks after buying the car (12 weeks after the major claim for the accident), and the crack spread badly in the extreme heat. It's too large to be repaired, so the windshield has to be replaced. With the old one, I might have just paid for it OOP to avoid another insurance claim, but I can't afford to do that with this one: the camera locations mean that the only glass that can be used to replace it is OEM, and only a couple of places have the equipment to re-calibrate the cameras after the glass is changed out. I was quoted $1400 for the windshield glass, plus labor. There is also a 2-week wait for the glass, even though I live in a major city.

(The lane-keeping assist on mine is only momentary, like a fraction of a second, and it doesn't push hard. As long as you are turning the wheel you can push past it without conscious thought. I still find it a bit annoying, though, mostly because we have a lot of potholes right now. Where it find it really annoys me is those occasions when I need to take both hands off the wheel for just a second -- I'm afraid it will steer in just that moment while I'm moving my hands.)

One other thing to be aware of: all this tech adds weight to the vehicle, and I'm finding that in most cars, the standard engine ends up under-powered as a result. I debated buying the larger engine, but it would have required me to also step up 2 trim levels, adding $8K to the price of the car. I decided it wasn't worth it. Luckily, I bought last year's model which still has paddle shifters, and I use them to downshift to give me a wee bit more torque when I need to get myself out of a tight spot in a hurry. (I prefer to drive a stick, actually, but they are getting almost impossible to find in anything that isn't a sports car.)

 

[Christine]

What happens if you have to leave your lane swiftly for an emergency?
I'm like Will Smith in iRobot- I prefer to do my driving.
IMO these things are a blessing and a curse, they will be helpful for some people but I think people will end up relying on them too much and in the near future we will see way more bad drivers because they have no idea how to pay attention to their surroundings and they will have no idea how to handle their vehicle.

It's very easy to purposefully override the lane departure. The purpose of the lane departure is if you are unaware and drifting. The car will sense it and it gently will try to "correct" the drift which you can feel in the steering wheel. Totally easy to resist it and leave your lane.

 

[Hikergirl]

It's very easy to purposefully override the lane departure. The purpose of the lane departure is if you are unaware and drifting. The car will sense it and it gently will try to "correct" the drift which you can feel in the steering wheel. Totally easy to resist it and leave your lane.

Not according to my MIL. I suppose she could get used to it if it kept happening, but that just means she probably shouldn't be on the road in the first place LOL

My question was posed due to the bolded below in the OP.
If braking "could" occur then that sounds like something very different than a feeling in the steering wheel.

Road Departure Mitigation System (RDM)
When RDM it active, an exterior camera is trained to scan the road for lane markings. If your vehicle seems to be leaving the road, an alert will sound and automatic braking could follow if no driver intervention is detected.

 

[Christine]

Not according to my MIL. I suppose she could get used to it if it kept happening, but that just means she probably shouldn't be on the road in the first place LOL

My question was posed due to the bolded below in the OP.
If braking "could" occur then that sounds like something very different than a feeling in the steering wheel.

Road Departure Mitigation System (RDM)
When RDM it active, an exterior camera is trained to scan the road for lane markings. If your vehicle seems to be leaving the road, an alert will sound and automatic braking could follow if no driver intervention is detected.

Yeah, I think it would have to be pretty extreme to break on lane departure. Truly, the driver would have to be drifting for quite some time for the braking to kick in. And then it's probably a good thing.

As for your MIL, I guess every car is different. My Toyota allows me to set three different "strengths" for lane departure. I have it on the strongest one and sometimes the people who've driven my car (father and best friend) say they don't notice it much until they really pay attention. But it's there. I think when it kicks in you just naturally correct.

I will say, the lane departure has improved my driving. I'm much more apt to use a turn signal now and be better about staying in the lanes properly when I'm turning or exiting.

 

[NotUrsula]

Not according to my MIL. I suppose she could get used to it if it kept happening, but that just means she probably shouldn't be on the road in the first place LOL

My question was posed due to the bolded below in the OP.
If braking "could" occur then that sounds like something very different than a feeling in the steering wheel.

Road Departure Mitigation System (RDM)
When RDM it active, an exterior camera is trained to scan the road for lane markings. If your vehicle seems to be leaving the road, an alert will sound and automatic braking could follow if no driver intervention is detected.

Trouble is, most of us haven't been able to test that; you would almost need a runway to be able to. You need a large lot with a continuous high-contrast line painted on the surface, but in a place where there is room to run sideways past that line for at least about 40 feet. To test it, most people would need to keep their hands completely off the steering wheel, and both feet also completely off the pedals, so that you don't react when it kicks in. In my car, you have to be going at least 20 mph for the device to activate.

 

[Hikergirl]

Thank you guys for providing some explanation. I don't have it my car so I'm just going by what the OP said.