this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2023
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This has been a thing for decades now at least in Mercedes (S & E) and BMW (5+).
And it's not just the camera alone, car headlights have a special projector that selectively illuminates pedestrians (or just does a double flash at them). Works as intended, but few people opt for it ... and gov are still not mandating it (like automatic breaking).
My parents gotba relatively new Merc and I'd to turn that auto braking off. Its far too sensitive and nearly had me rear ended driving around a bend. My guess is its picking up the retroreflective spots on the markings as there usually isn't a car on that bend but the Merc is beeping at me like I'm about to be in a collision
Something must be wrong then.
Or its just a (now) standard emergency braking feature (not meant as a substitute, but to lessen crash outcomes), not radar cruise control. If it is tho, look in the settings, maybe you can adjust something there. But radar breaking on all new-ish cars is smooth. But it does tend to sightly mimic the driving (accelerating and braking) style of the car in front, especially in cities as it tries to be polite & not make others impatient.
Also afaik radar braking/cruise control is something to turn on, can't be on by default.
They didn't get the car brand new but it wasn't very old. Perhaps the previous owner turned on the setting
I have been in the settings and adjusted it but in the end it was just easier to turn the function off
Its probably awesome on the Autobahns but its a danger on windytight roads that I drive on. Probably 3 or 4 times it braked on me when there was no reason to do so. There's one bit near my approaching a roundabout and it beeps like hell at me to slow down at least 50% of the time. Fortunately I'm back in my own car now as I don't need the automatic (I injured my left leg)
Yeah, you should take that to a dealer and have the system re-calibrated. It's not supposed to act like that. If I had to guess, the previous owner got into a fender bender and had someone do the repair work on the cheap. Either that, or there's something in the front grill area blocking the radar setup intermittently.
Every automated car I've driven behaves like this. I don't buy it's a calibration issue (there's nothing to calibrate from what I've read on wiring diagrams, as that's not how auto manufacturers roll - they build components for things like this to be replaced).
For example, I haven't heard of headlight aiming in forever, though it's something that used to be done with a relatively simple tool. And it's way simpler to do than calibrate a complex radar system for a car.
This automation simply isn't quite ready for the real world, and I'd bet manufacturers are collecting data from many of these cars (so many have a connection back to the manufacturer via cell).
I'm only trained to calibrate the camera systems that tell you when you've drifted out of the lane, but the tool I use is capable of calibrating radar systems if you buy the more expensive accessory package. I'm certain because I have to scroll past the instructions for radar when pulling up instructions/parameters for Lane watch.
Also, for what it's worth the sensors CAN be replaced, but they still have to go through an initial calibration/programming once installed into the car.
It was a company vehicle and if it was crashed, we'd have known about it
Oh, I don't have a comparative experience at all. But also once you touch the brakes all cruise control should turn off anyway so I'm not sure if we are talking about the same thing.
No, I'm not talking about having cruise control on in any of my comments. Just driving with the pedals myself
Oh, yeah, I see that now - I'm just in awe that issues like that are a thing (so I assumed the other system).
But I'm intrigued what makes for such difference (cars/tech, environments, legislation? - like adaptive lights were a legislation issue in US).