Autonomous driving aids. Do you Turn them off or leave on?

Euphemistic on 05/12/2022 - 15:48
Last edited 05/12/2022 - 15:54

Got a new vehicle a while back. It’s got the suite of safety stuff. Auto brake, lane keeper, blind spot monitor etc. I’m getting the hang of it, but the lane keeper seems a bit random in its reaction. Ether hugs the line, pushes you away from it or simply vibrates the wheel and I’m not sure which is going to happen at any time. Auto braking is OK, I just have to recalibrate my driving to allow a bigger gap so it doesn’t go off so much. Blind spot monitor has swerved me back into lane unnecessarily a couple of times while trying to change.

My vehicle has a couple of menu steps to disable it which requires the vehicle to be stopped so I never turn it off. I’ve set the auto braking to ‘near’ so it’s a bit better. Newer version of my vehicle have a single button on the steering wheel to disable the features. Doesn’t have adaptive cruise control as it’s a manual, but I’ve turned this off on other vehicles before because it never gets ty close enough to signal to other drivers you are ready to pass.

I was prompted into this thread by lane keeper trying to stop me from moving over to give a cyclist more too. Wanted to drive on the line, but steering was pushing me back to centre of lane. The cyclist was in no danger, just wanted max room for him. I know what it’s like being passed too close by cars going 50km/h faster than me.

Have you got these features? Do you disable them?

Poll Options

  • 147
    Old school. No driver aids for me
  • 7
    I turn them off every time before driving
  • 11
    I turn them off if I think of it
  • 27
    I just learn to deal with their idiosyncrasies
  • 270
    I always leave them on. They are safety features.
  • 2
    I don’t know how to disable
  • 4
    I need to check under the bonut thingy.
Automotive

Comments

          • surg3on on 08/12/2022 - 08:59

            @the wiz: Forcing something is just a saying. I can Force Excel to do things but im not literally punching it ;)

  • jizmo on 05/12/2022 - 18:33

    Plumber was telling me the other day. The brakes keep going off when they carry pipe over the head board of the ute when they hit bumps.
    Place in Brisbane make and sell engineered head boards for utes to carry long lengths up to 300KG for this. But they want about $8000.

    Got me thinking. What are Fwder's going to do when they want to go surf fishing?
    .
    .
    .

  • GordonD on 05/12/2022 - 18:49
    +2

    I would strongly encourage anyone who thinks these devices are better drivers than they are to by all means use them.

    And for those who don't, enjoy it while you still can. You haven't got much longer to.

    For example the Lamborghini crash in Adelaide where the driver turned off the traction control to show off, and ended up running down and killing a pedestrian on the footpath after he lost control, looks like resulting in laws that don't permit turning off electronic safety features, and require a higher licence class to drive performance vehicles. And once that's done in one state, it'll spread.

    • spackbace on 05/12/2022 - 19:32

      Hmm slippery slope indeed (pardon the pun). Ability to turn off traction control, as well as for racing, is also for better handling/traction on gravel roads

      Or it's just a knee-jerk reaction from someone who wants to make it sound like they're doing something good. Or it was a Daily Mail article… or both!

  • Switchblade88 on 05/12/2022 - 20:44
    +1

    Adaptive cruise control - slowing my speed to match the car in front - is excellent.

    Lanekeep alert, as well as active steering assist, are awful. Note to car makers - you need good roads for these features to work!

    Nobody should make the mistake of thinking some of these functions are actually 'safety features', and they should always be able to be turned off (preferably by default).

  • thatonethere on 05/12/2022 - 21:31

    Auto brake has been useful to me. Especially with L and P drivers. Been a few occasions where driver inattention or someone pulling out.

    The false positive i have see with it is steep multi storey car park ramps where it thinks the concrete floor you are going under is a car and slams on the brakes. Lightly pressing the brake as you go down seems to fix that.

    Lane assist seems pointless.

    Auto parking is fun but some setups it cant park well. Eg close to a wall.

    Adaptive cruise is nice

  • Doyen on 06/12/2022 - 02:38

    Isuzu D max are downright dangerous with lane drift turned on. The number of times it has forced me onto the wrong side of the road is ridiculous. Fortunately Hertz has stopped renting them out and replaced them with hilux

  • 2esc on 06/12/2022 - 08:37

    In the case of you wanting to give the rider more room its the right thing to do I always think what if that rider swerves slightly to avoid a pothole etc just as your going past. Rather than the car taking over a warning sound would be better.

    But if you use your indicator that youre changing lanes though in that case your just moving over a bit does the use of a indicator override lane departure safety system?

    Ive never driven a car with all those safety features so dont know how they work.

    30 years plus driving haven't had a accident yet luckily.

    • Euphemistic on 06/12/2022 - 12:17

      Yes. Indicator overrides the lane stuff on mine. However, if there was a car just behind, the blind spot stuff might just shove me back in my lane as well depending on how far behind the other car is.

  • azero on 06/12/2022 - 09:20

    Lane keep, auto brake and pedestrian detection should be made mandatory by law.

    Just last week I saw 2 seperate incidents where 3 primary school kids almost got hit because of dumbass parents.

    Both the times those idiots crossed the roads near a school between parked cars. The parent crossed the roads first, with the kids following like ~2m behind.

    The only reason those kids are not in a hospital is those drivers were actually looking at the road. The second instance, if the kids were 0.5s late the driver wouldn't even have the chance to brake even if she saw the kids.

    Regardless of how good a driver you are, you can't control others. Since humans are not machines, their performance changes all the time, even if you are the best driver around, it is guaranteed that you are not like that 100% of the time.

    Oh, auto brake and lane keep would prevent 99.9% of the accidents on the westgate freeway. So even if it will cause some issue, they should be mandatory.

  • Kayrhcp on 06/12/2022 - 09:23
    +2

    I drive a 2016 Mazda 3 with all the safety stuff. Man, that lane assist is a game changer for long drives. It basically covers that extra 20% of energy you have to spend on constant (and important) lane etiquette while driving +110km/h.
    It doesn’t sound like much but it means my wife and I can drive 11+ hours a day and not feel tired at the end of it, whereas otherwise, those hours of hyper-vigilance exhausts us.

    • srhardy on 06/12/2022 - 10:18

      Since almost ALL my accidents were done at VERY LOW SPEEDS, the auto braking car ahead radar is on my want list and now, lane assist. I like the idea of coasting refreshed to my destination too!

      • Euphemistic on 06/12/2022 - 12:19
        +6

        Almost all your accidents? Sounds like you should reconsider driving if you’ve had that many CRASHES.

        • the wiz on 07/12/2022 - 22:52

          At least he's honest in calling it an accident.

          I'm thinking that's something many people here might not describe as an accident but just "wear and tear".

  • Waltervp on 06/12/2022 - 11:38
    +1

    I love all these aids. I enjoy finding the flaws and expect them, learn to live with it to my advantage and it makes me a safer driver.

    My retired 'special ops cops' mate always drives as if he is in a hwy car pursuit, so if he drives my car he hates everything about it as every safety feature is screaming at him and interfering with his driving . But as for me, it is a joy to have and i feel more relaxed after long drives than ever before.

    As for auto parking, i believe i could get into any car or van and reverse park smoothly but this auto park feature still is my favourite as i zip into tight spaces before you can count to 3!

    • pegaxs on 06/12/2022 - 22:48
      +1

      If these systems are interfering with his driving, he is a shit driver, period.

      If you are a good driver, you don’t even notice these systems are on.

  • mrvaluepack on 06/12/2022 - 13:22

    if you put some weights and hang it on your steering wheel, the lane assist, and radar cruise control can mimic full autonomous driving.

  • jzdhgkd on 06/12/2022 - 14:00
    +1

    Like with any technological advancement or new electronics there'll be some quirks that you need to work around. But personally I won't go back to a car without a reverse camera or parking sensors!

    • Euphemistic on 06/12/2022 - 18:00
      +1

      Definitely rear camera. I’ve installed on the last 3 vehicles we’ve had.

      • the wiz on 07/12/2022 - 23:06

        Absolutely. A rear camera will stop you killing a small child that you can't possibly see any other way.

        It's not an autonomous driving aid. With modern tech it should be considered as mandatory as mirrors.

      • Mechz on 07/12/2022 - 23:09

        I tend to reverse slower with a camera equipped vehicle. The 360 cam has me looking at too many things at once.

  • El cheepo on 06/12/2022 - 14:06

    Some of these features are in trucks these days and they are straight up terrifying at times. (Depending on the system used)

    A lot new big trucks (mostly European but some American prime movers) have brake assist, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, blind spot warning.

    Unfortunately they all have their downfalls and in my opinion can make it more dangerous for a driver towing 1/2/3 trailers.
    Used in controlled situations they are ok, but there are far too many variables on the road that make them unsuitable in my opinion.

  • trapper on 06/12/2022 - 14:28

    These safety features should be a great improvement for road safety…

    but if they are actively fighting you, like you describe, well that just seems really sketchy and dangerous to me.

    I would not have any trust in a system working against me like that.

  • hippieyippie on 06/12/2022 - 14:42

    Lane keep and lane centering I will leave on only for freeways. Adaptive cruise is only useful for freeway with very light traffic. It put on the brakes a little bit too much when another car cuts in front when just easing off the gas pedal is enough.

  • Gnilgorf on 06/12/2022 - 15:30
    +1

    They are useful aids to typically have on, but will selectively turn them off depending on the scenario.

    Recently went on a holiday requiring a lot of driving in two different rent-a-cars, with a varying mix of these aids. Found them surprisingly helpful through out. As at the end of each day, I (the one and only driver) still had plenty of energy left to actually enjoy the trip. Its not an excuse to fully rely on them, but there was definitely less mental stress and fatigue knowing there were backup systems in place.

    ACC - Absolutely loved it for the longer drives, even when the traffic started building up. Reflexively turned it off (i.e. braking normally) when reaching busier sections of town
    Lane Assist - Ditto. There were times I wasn't sure if I was doing the adjustments…or the car was. By the end I just left the assist on.
    Auto Braking - On permanently. Don't want to risk this one. Got cut off a few times and could feel it kicking into action a fraction faster than I did.

    There were probably a couple of times I could feel the lane assist resisting me as I turned the wheel. It caught me off guard the first time to feel it but it wasn't overpoweringly so. And credit to the car systems, the roads were undergoing a lot of roadworks and the lane markings were all over the place. Everywhere else it was fine.

    Wish I had them in my current car. But aids are aids and don't replace good fundamentals.

  • Devastator0 on 06/12/2022 - 15:31

    Yeah, I was taught how to drive without any technological assists. Problem is these days people use the assists as a crutch for not having to think. I see people stare blindly into their reverse camera as opposed to actually using their eyeballs to observe their surroundings. I personally believe that when people go for their driving tests, they need to have all assists/cameras off.

    • Gnilgorf on 06/12/2022 - 15:55
      +1

      Oh lord, this reminded me of someone I know.

      They learnt to drive pre-reverse camera, but after they got a car with the feature, they became far too reliant on it. They told us a story where one day they were reversing out of a car park, and was about to drive off but then a cop out of nowhere knocked on their window. Turns out they had nearly reversed into a kid, and the cop just happened to be standing nearby watching it all unfold.

      For other reasons, I never catch a ride with them, but after telling that story , no one else I know wants to either…

      • CMH on 06/12/2022 - 16:08

        I'm far too reliant on my reverse camera ever since I got it 5 years ago.

        I still try to get into the habit of checking every mirror before reversing but it's just too easy to rely solely on the camera.

      • Euphemistic on 06/12/2022 - 18:05

        I reversed into a carpark space years ago. Sensors were going off, but I looked and saw a tree adjacent and assumed it was that. Used the mirrors to reverse in and heard a crunch. Looked in the reverse cam and saw what looked like prison bars. There was a trolley directly behind me the sensors had picked up, but nothing in the mirrors. Luckily not a kid. I guess I kinda ruled out the sensors because they usually went off reversing our of the garage. Nothing is infallible - especially drivers!

  • CMH on 06/12/2022 - 15:40

    Lane assist I always have on - can't remember the last time they actually kicked in (other than me just testing them). I have good indicator habits…

    The problem I have is with forward collision warning. It picks up random things and goes off more often than I'd like on random times. Sometimes even when there's no one else about. It's come on often enough that it doesn't jolt me anymore.

  • BHR on 06/12/2022 - 15:49

    Always on, never activated.

    They’re there for when I screw up, but haven’t had an issue with them interfering with day to day driving.

  • randysal on 06/12/2022 - 18:10

    In some cars some of these systems are configurable. For example Lane Keep Assist in my car can be programmed to vibrate or actively steer. It can also be completely turned off. Similar with other aids. Might be harder on other cars.

  • xylarr on 06/12/2022 - 18:14
    -3

    The lane keep alert keep beeping when I change lanes!
    That's because you indicate after you start changing lanes
    If I indicate before, the person behind will close the gap before I move into it
    <sigh>

  • gascar on 06/12/2022 - 18:17

    Auto steering is great on the freeway but annoying and sometimes dangerous in bendy city driving.

    One time, I over steered to cut a lazy corner but the auto steering kicked in and tried to pull me out of a turn entirely.

  • [Deactivated] on 06/12/2022 - 18:25

    Had an Audi e-Tron in Germany, everything on board you could imagine. Had the lane assistant and steering assistant activated and the Audi almost crashed in the construction site. Another issue eappened several time with passing by parking cars, the break system activated by itself. Very strange.

    By end of the day, I do not trust them, but autonomous driving aids I really appreciate like distance control.

    • Hangryuman on 07/12/2022 - 14:28

      I loved the active stop'n'go cruise control on our rented SEAT Leon in Germany in 2018 - on the autobahnen I drove for about 2 hours without touching a pedal

      I set the cruise control to 220kph - it maintained a safe (adjustable distance) behind any vehicle in front in traffic, including slowing to a stop at roadworks, then crawling along through them, then accelerating like a rocket once free of traffic - I enjoyed overtaking hard accelerating Mercedes as they looked over like 'what's happening !?' - all without touching any pedal.

      the only problem was forgetting to turn it off when we came to a tight curve offramp - when it would see a vehicle in the other lane, imagine we were about to crash into it, and suddenly brake hard without warning, throwing us against the seat belts - that was disturbing.

  • FW190 on 06/12/2022 - 19:47
    +3

    where is the option for "my car is so old that it doesn't have driver aids?"

    • mapax on 06/12/2022 - 20:30

      Isn’t that the first option?

      • FW190 on 06/12/2022 - 22:56

        opps yeah you are right

  • pogichinoy on 06/12/2022 - 19:55

    I don't like them but I leave them on and ignore them or just live with them because it's annoying as hell to turn them off, assuming they can be turned off that is.

    e.g. pre collision warning beeps incorrectly and simply ignore it.

  • chris666 on 06/12/2022 - 20:23

    Only aid I turn off is the one that shuts the engine off at the lights etc rest stay on even how annoying they are

  • Technics on 06/12/2022 - 21:05
    +2

    Sound like a fancy pants investment vehicle. It's a good thing you didn't maim that cyclist. They might have been a brain surgeon. Being able to turn these features off doesn't fully mitigate the risk though. It's just too easy to forget to do it. They should be banned along with airbags, crumple zones, ABS, EBA, ESC, KFC, DRL, NWA, power steering, automatic transmissions, synchromesh, electronic ignition, self-cancelling indicators, non sealed beam headlights and many others. Things really started going down hill when you started seeing passenger side mirrors on cars. With hindsight it was the thin edge of the wedge. Now you don't see wedge shaped cars. Not since they started considering pedestrian safety.

    I appreciate technology as much as anyone but I just can't get past the extent to which these things are now interfering with natural selection. It doesn't work without a few good hazards. Back in my 20's you were lucky to survive your 20's. These days I see so many young people walking around who probably wouldn't be alive if not for this stuff. It's a disgrace.

    Also if we brought back total loss lubrication systems it would probably stop the manhole covers and storm-water grates from rusting. Food for thought.

  • Poor Ass on 06/12/2022 - 23:19

    I doubt this will be answered but what car do you have?

    Some manufacturers have those features very well and some just outright suck

  • kaleidoscope on 06/12/2022 - 23:59

    Whats the brand of your vehicle?

    I personally leave mine ON at all or most times. I make use of automatic parking when conditions suit. You just have to be mindful that they are assistive features and not complete autonomous control and with the ridiculous amount of road works going on these days on roads, it's fairly easy to throw them off specially the lane keep assistance. Out of all the features, adaptive cruise control is my fav as it takes care of vehicle at front slowing down and keeps gap in check.

  • lint on 07/12/2022 - 10:24

    Turn off the ones that give you more trouble than they are worth, that the carmaker really should work on to be more robust. I've found lane keeping assist sometimes doesn't interpret intentions properly - when you want to keep a safer distance between others on the road and end up really close to the lane marker, it may try to correct and I've had to fight it instead.

  • Munki on 07/12/2022 - 12:36

    I don't drive with aids.

  • Maxxiz on 07/12/2022 - 12:45
    +2

    It's a joke to think people turn these off thinking they are a better driver/observer than a machine.

    • Willy Beamish on 07/12/2022 - 18:37

      for arguments sake, if there was a completely competent driver without the use of machine features, reliance on those features would only turn that person into a worse driver over time, especially when they do not have access to a vehicle with those features.

  • Succulent on 07/12/2022 - 18:41

    With the line assist, if you turn your indicator on, it will allow you to swerve to the other line when passing/giving room to cyclist. This is a logical safety measure because if part of your car going to swerve to a different line, you are expected to turn on the indicator, as if you are about to change lane. So this will indicate to the other car that you are about to take some space on the other line.

    The safety aid can act as an "insurance". Most of the time you might feel that you dont need it because everything feels under control. But that one time when someone is unintentionally out of control (sleepy, intoxicated, not paying attention), it might save their life or maybe prevented a trip to smash repairs.

  • So Was Red on 07/12/2022 - 21:03

    So what I'm getting is: driving aids interfere with tailgating

  • DiscoJango on 07/12/2022 - 21:12
    +1

    Leave all on except for lane keeper, it just keeps bouncing between the white lanes, making you look like a drunk driver.

  • the wiz on 07/12/2022 - 21:52

    My favourite is a guy on Youtube who goes for a ride in a driverless car. He praises the car for literally (yes, literally) screeching the tyres to a stop in a car park because it thought something might happen that didn't.

    I hope someone would fail a driving test for this. Locking up tyres in a carpark either says you're going too fast or something has surprised you that shouldn't. But this autopilot fan gushed.

  • bmerigan on 07/12/2022 - 23:24
    +1

    Sounds like you need to indicate more. Then it will let you cross out of your lane without it complaining.

  • the wiz on 08/12/2022 - 01:28

    While I'm here, I'd just like to thank the moderators for correcting my poor behaviour.

    I was wrong to question another Ozbargain member's intelligence. I absolutely respect the opinion of everyone who thinks the minimum wage for unskilled workers should be $150,000 a year just so they don't become dissatisfied with their personal situation and feel the need to vent their frustration by breaking the law.

    That is a valid opinion that warrants respectful discussion.

    Mea culpa.

    • SBOB on 08/12/2022 - 09:16

      Do you generally like to post attention seeking comments randomly on forums?

      • Danstar on 08/12/2022 - 13:51
        -1

        Hahahahahahahahaha #Pot

      • the wiz on 09/12/2022 - 00:59

        No. I hate attention.

        By "generally" do you have any evidence that I've deliberately sought attention here or anywhere else?

    • CrowReally on 09/12/2022 - 15:24

      holy heck dude this is some top tier sarcasm right here

      i wouldn't want to get on your bad side if this is the sort of carpet bombing raid my fragile psyche would be in line for

  • MementoMori on 08/12/2022 - 01:33

    Let me guess… Subaru?

    I found the lane assist too annoying, so I turn it off sometimes - particularly on skinny, windy country mountain roads where you regularly have a tire on the white middle line when the road is narrow and only 1.5 cars wide. It comes on again every time I start the car.

  • Ulysses31 on 08/12/2022 - 09:20

    12mths ago, one of my big country carpenter mates was doing 110 on the highway with his fully loaded Ranger ute & huge tradie trailer.

    A big roll of cyclone fence fell off a truck in front of him. He saw it & pulled the wheel to avoid it. Lane diversion safety feature decided he was drifting, and stopped him. He says he used every muscle in his arms & shoulders to FORCE his correction. Eventually, the car gave up & let him do an insane swerve & fish-tail to avoid it… almost ending 10x worse.

    I’m ENTIRELY for guidance & assistance. But do not ever take-away a driver’s control

    • DiscoJango on 08/12/2022 - 20:50

      Interesting, the toyota lane assist is pretty mild, you can easily overpower it. Seems ford have gone the opposite route…

      • spackbace on 08/12/2022 - 20:51

        Depends on the car, you comparing with a Toyota commercial or passenger car? Commercials brake the inside tyre to pull you back over, passenger cars have electric power steering so it's just a subtle nudge over

  • cuteseal on 08/12/2022 - 11:26
    +1

    In other news, my reverse camera died on my 9 year old car so I've been forced to re-learn how to look backwards and use my mirrors while reversing.
    It's a refreshing change actually, relearning old skills.

    Next I have to find a manual car with non-powered steering and manual windows to really bring back the nostalgia.

    • Ulysses31 on 11/12/2022 - 20:09

      Makes me feel old. My first car only had a RH side mirror. I learnt a trick of grabbing a LH one from a very similar model newer car. Looked identical, worked perfect.

      Next car came with bullet side mirrors, and small back window. Terrible visibility, looks cool.

  • geekcohen on 08/12/2022 - 11:50

    Personally, it took a while to get used to but I like them.

    Around town the lane keep assist is annoying, but great for the freeway. I turn it off around town.

  • Bid Sniper on 08/12/2022 - 11:52

    I did like rear cross traffic alert, thought it was dumb then saved me same day I got the car (Subaru).

    Blindspot monitoring is good.

    Subaru eyesight, I didn't trust it enough to use the adaptive cruise (2016 model), though it as emergency brake safety system its great.

    Lane keep assist can be annoying, particularly BMW when lanes have been moved. Probably a system Id permanently disable.

  • vorsprung on 08/12/2022 - 13:52

    I use Autopilot as often as I can on my Twitter Model 3. On highways and gasp around town (Tesla does not condone using it around town).

    On the highway it's pretty flawless. It's not perfect, but generally I can tell where it's going to have issues (bus lanes in town, going over a crest on motorway). I'm always ready to react regardless. For me, two sets of eyes are better than one. The car might see something I don't.

    • Euphemistic on 10/12/2022 - 08:08

      Always ready to react? Humans are notoriously bad at ‘just monitoring’. If you don’t need to do anything your mind switches off making it harder to reboot.

      If it isn’t good at doing particular things it’s probably OK to get ready for it, but half-arsed autonomous driving seems to be more dangerous to me.

  • HG Dendrobium on 08/12/2022 - 18:32

    I leave them on and drive normally like they don't exist. They can help you little bit here and there, but don't trust your life to them

  • BartholemewH on 08/12/2022 - 19:40

    In my Skoda Superb I use the lane assist, auto brake and radar cruise combo all the time. It is the hest I've ever used. In the Hilux Rogue I have absolutely everything turned off. To say the same features suck balls in comparison would be an understatement.

    • spackbace on 08/12/2022 - 20:52
      +1

      Electric power steering vs hydraulic power steering plays a huge part

      • BartholemewH on 08/12/2022 - 21:00

        I'm usually a big fan of the feel of hydraulic steer, but the Hilux isn't great to begin with. Turn lane keeping on to add pinball effects.

  • Chik5555 on 08/12/2022 - 23:03

    I keep them on. I dont rely on them. They don't seem to invasive for me - the lane steering assist only gently guides away from the line and isnt hard to override, any excessive beeping I just get used to. Only a few bothers like emergency braking when there is a car slowed down to turn out of the road and my car things I'm driving towards a parked car - but I know when to expect this now. There have been a couple of times where the blind spot indicator and emergency brakes have possibly saved an accident!

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