AUTOMATIC BRAKING

Seawolf

Seawolf

Established Member
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Location
Arbroath UK
Driving
MG HS PHEV
Had an interesting experience the other day. Driving along a major street in town, when I noticed a chap approaching the junction on my left at speed, and wondered if he was going to stop at the junction. I was getting ready to brake or take evasive action, but my car was way ahead of me and slammed the brakes on. It gave me the fright of my life, but I quickly realised what had happened. The other car had stopped at the junction, so I just put my foot on the accelerator and carried on, but my thoughts were sympathy for the driver of the car behind me who must have been in line for a heart attack ! Fortunately he was not too close to me and didn't go into my rear end, but it was close !

Thinking about it afterwards, I had mixed feelings about it. If it had been a stray pedestrian, the auto braking could have saved a life, but in the situation I was in it could have caused an accident. It would also have been an interesting one for insurance law. Who was driving my car when the brakes slammed on ? Me or the car ?

It was the best "heads up" I have ever had about tailgating. If the car behind me had made contact with me, he would still have been at fault, as he would have been too close to me. Think about this when you are driving in traffic. The car in front may have automatic braking, and it's not just things in FRONT of it that can trigger the brakes, but also cars approaching from the side !
 
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I captured an example of this a while back:

Phantom or Justified Braking?

I recorded this on my dash camera today: I'm assuming the Tesla itself initiated the emergency braking manoeuvre rather than the driver but I'm wondering whether that very small deviation from the lorry actually justified the reaction? Lane 3 was clear so the driver could have moved to the...
www.mgevs.com www.mgevs.com
 
Fascinating ! It looks to me like it was auto braking, because if that one had happened to me I would have just moved over to the outside lane. Interesting to see one of your replies says that there have been court cases about it in the US.

That may be why MG have a disclaimer in the car's manual, which says, "The driver remains responsible for the safety of the entire driving process, even if the vehicle is equipped with automatic emergency braking system .......... The driver MUST (their emphasis) always remain in control to avoid accidents or emergency situations".

My question is .. and this is where it would be interesting to see how the law interprets it .. how can you possibly "remain in control" when the car takes over control ?

Part of me wants to switch the system off, but then .. but then ... the old lady who steps off the kerb in front of me because she didn't hear my electric car coming may survive if the car brakes automatically. It's a dilemma.
 
PS: It's a similar situation with the lane drift warnings. I live in the sticks, and most of my driving is on narrow country roads. The lane drift warning drives me nuts, as it is going off all the time. Even on the lowest sensitivity setting it still even picks up the black tar line in the middle of the road. Again ... I'd love to switch it off, but you never know ... some day I might need it !
 
Seawolf said:
PS: It's a similar situation with the lane drift warnings. I live in the sticks, and most of my driving is on narrow country roads. The lane drift warning drives me nuts, as it is going off all the time. Even on the lowest sensitivity setting it still even picks up the black tar line in the middle of the road. Again ... I'd love to switch it off, but you never know ... some day I might need it !
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Hi
l only have it switched on when I travel on a long distance on motorway and duel carriageways.
 
I have the Excite 5 so do not have any of these bells and whistles. However my view is that if everyone is doing what they should then these driver aids will save lives. Keeping correct distance from the car in front has always been a highway code requirement, being aware of pedestrians and cyclists whilst driving is fundamental so again if everyone is driving as they should they should have time to manoeuvre or brake if necessary. The driver aids when added to the safe driving style ( the driver must be in control at all times), will enhance the safety level and whilst they may activate unexpectedly, isn’t that what they are supposed to do and we should all be ready to react accordingly.
I like to be in full control of my car so I do not miss these aids however, I think I would be a safer driver with them. And as long as all drivers are driving sensibly in the long run they will be proven to work otherwise everyone will just turn them off.
 
You're absolutely right, but of course the caveat is .. as you say ... "as long as all drivers are driving sensibly". And if that were the case then there would be no need for any drivers' aids in the first place. 😸
 
Whilst I do understand that on average we may not all drive sensibly, why is that? Do we believe we are always right, do we not care about other road users, do we believe we are invincible, do we think we are not in the wrong or going to die?
In my lifetime a number of friends and family have died on the road. I remember them, whenever I start my car, and I try to show others on the road, the respect that might have prevented their early death. Nobody is perfect at driving, we all make mistakes but we don’t all die because we did, I wonder why they did? I wonder if anyone cares and I am sure whatever they did that lead to their death, it wasn’t deliberate. we all need a bit of luck to survive our roads these days.
 
I have the ZS EV but have also experienced this and the issue might be the same. In the ZS EV there is a Forward Collision System that uses the front camera to detect if it thinks you're about to hit something. It can be pretty aggressive - at one point I skidded to a halt unnecessarily since I was in total control - and I have often wondered what it must look like to the car behind. For my own peace of mind I turn this option off at the start of most journeys (you can't disable it permanently).
 
Going back to your liability point ... I'd rather explain to a court that I was using safety equipment that had stopped the car quicker than I possibly could have than have to explain to a coroner that I'd turned it off.
 
The defence from the car behind of "they stopped too quickly" simply will be dismissed by insurers and the law with only a few exceptions. E.G and only if witnessed by a third independent party. Car A overtakes car B and pulls in close and immediately slams their brakes on before car B has had time to slow and open the safe gap that car A has invaded.
 
Seawolf said:
Had an interesting experience the other day. Driving along a major street in town, when I noticed a chap approaching the junction on my left at speed, and wondered if he was going to stop at the junction. I was getting ready to brake or take evasive action, but my car was way ahead of me and slammed the brakes on. It gave me the fright of my life, but I quickly realised what had happened. The other car had stopped at the junction, so I just put my foot on the accelerator and carried on, but my thoughts were sympathy for the driver of the car behind me who must have been in line for a heart attack ! Fortunately he was not too close to me and didn't go into my rear end, but it was close !

Thinking about it afterwards, I had mixed feelings about it. If it had been a stray pedestrian, the auto braking could have saved a life, but in the situation I was in it could have caused an accident. It would also have been an interesting one for insurance law. Who was driving my car when the brakes slammed on ? Me or the car ?

It was the best "heads up" I have ever had about tailgating. If the car behind me had made contact with me, he would still have been at fault, as he would have been too close to me. Think about this when you are driving in traffic. The car in front may have automatic braking, and it's not just things in FRONT of it that can trigger the brakes, but also cars approaching from the side !
Click to expand...
Ive not experienced this in my MG HS PHEV, but as a coach driver with similar system I’ve had the coach apply the brakes when a car drifted across my path in town at about 20 mph. As the driver i was aware of the situation but the coach saw danger, applied the brakes and a 90 year old passenger who had stood up ended up flat on her back, thankfully unhurt, but it did nothing for my heart and as a result I am now very nervous of any vehicle cutting in front of me. Technology is good but does have its limitations. Like you I’m sure the vehicles behind would have wondered why I’d suddenly braked. Thankfully the other passengers were all very supportive of me saying that I had told people to stay in their seats, but I stil felt sick at the sound of the lady hitting the floor.
 
I may have missed this but when you slow down naturally when in number 3 regen mode are the brake lights lit at all
 
Barry wood said:
I may have missed this but when you slow down naturally when in number 3 regen mode are the brake lights lit at all
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Yes, they are - easier to spot at night, when the light over the rear window lights up the rear interior.

In the past I've been frustrated by what I thought was excessive uneccessary braking by a driver in front of me .... I now know what it really is.
 
Seawolf said:
PS: It's a similar situation with the lane drift warnings. I live in the sticks, and most of my driving is on narrow country roads. The lane drift warning drives me nuts, as it is going off all the time. Even on the lowest sensitivity setting it still even picks up the black tar line in the middle of the road. Again ... I'd love to switch it off, but you never know ... some day I might need it !
Click to expand...
Lane drift warnings start at 38mph, if the lanes are so narrow, are you sure you should be driving at the speed you are? Someone, just like you could be coming the other way, then you would have to rely on the emergency brake!
 
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