jruhi4

Certainly an informative and eye-opening read:

Drawing the line on vehicle technology
By DUTCH MANDEL - AutoWeek


Construction areas, low bridges and sharp-edged speed bumps are some of the things that
can fool the Collision Mitigation Braking System on the Acura ZDX into activating.

Few things in this car world surprise me, but when something does, it is cause for pause. That happened not long ago while behind the wheel of an Acura ZDX, a visually polarizing car/crossover that the company itself calls a concept in its television advertising.

Less than a mile into my evening commute home, an unforgettable moment occurred. While driving on one of Detroit's many near-vacant, painfully downtrodden roads, lights on the dash suddenly began to flash the word "brake," and a warning beep drew my attention to the instrument panel. Something dire was happening, but what? Fortunately, I was not going more than 30 mph, because after a few seconds, my seatbelt cinched tight in what I knew was in anticipation of a precrash moment, and the ZDX automatically applied the brakes.

But there were no cars on the road for at least a half-mile!

What was before me: a steel plate put down by a road crew at quitting time to prevent a car from getting sucked into a sinkhole or manmade abyss. Certainly that shouldn't have caused this crash-test dummy from going into the seatbelt version of "pre-clamp-see-ya!"

To say I was startled would be an understatement. To hear this is something Acura occasionally expects from its accident-avoidance system is nearly as startling.

I wanted to give Acura the opportunity to address this case of "unintended deceleration."

Little more than a week later, Acura reported that the ZDX that I drove had its computer brain read and that the vehicle's Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) was operating as designed.

Acura's representative sent me a document from the ZDX's owner's manual. He explained that this was done "in an effort to help you understand some of the nuances of the system." He suggested I note two things: One is that the system can be shut off if the driver chooses. (What's the point of that if you're going to spend the money on such a system and if you want it to work?) Second, I was to know that "the CMBS may activate when there is little or no chance of a collision under certain conditions."

Hmmm . . .

These are some of those "certain conditions." Think about whether you've ever encountered any of them: when you change lanes quickly and overtake a vehicle ahead of you; when you approach or pass a vehicle ahead of you that is turning left or right in an intersection; when you pass a low bridge at high speed; when you go over a sharp-edged speed bump at high speed; when you approach train tracks at the bottom of a hill and you do not apply the brakes, or when you go over areas of construction on the road surface.

This was my experience.

You should also know that certain roads--curved or winding--or the attitude of the vehicle (turning angle, lane position and the like), might cause CMBS to mistake a solidly stationary object such as a light pole or a traffic sign as a vehicle and temporarily engage. This is normal.

In short, the type of situation I experienced is a known possibility, but not one Acura expects to happen often. In the fine-tuning of CMBS, the Acura representative said, "we had to decide where to draw the line on whether to accept the rare possibility of a stage-one (beeping sound and "brake" flashing on the IP) or even stage-two alert (same as stage one, with the addition of light braking and seatbelt tightening) where no threat was present, or accept the possibility of failing to alert the driver to a potential crash."

Acura opted to accept some false positives and their associated warnings in situations where no crash may occur, instead of failing to alert a driver to a potential crash.

I don't share this story with you to be alarmist. You should know about it as others in your world come to you for insight and information. I like Acura products; they have a distinguished and distinct personality and that is rare in cars these days. I share this because of what it really means: The technology is created to protect us from ourselves, to make certain that those drivers who aren't paying attention to the act of driving are still protected to the best of technology's ability.

This is the same tech that scared the living daylights out of me.

I suppose that's why a CMBS shutoff switch exists, to let those who want to be in control of their destiny be in control. I, for one, don't want my car to think for me, drive for me or stop for me. And I certainly don't want it to startle me for little or no reason. I take great pride in paying attention to the real and adult task of driving.

I just hate that this world has come to a point where people won't take responsibility for their actions and demand that someone else takes care of them.

Drawing the line on vehicle technology

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Hello.

Welcome to the Club!

Och

iTrader: (3)

This idiotic, moronic technology is gonna cause someone to get killed for no reason.

IS-SV

Acura opted to accept some false positives when they went against their instincts and released the ZitDX to the public.

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

Wow...I guess they should stop selling ZDXs in the Metro Atlanta area. Mike knows what I mean!

RXSF

Actually the author is overexagerating a bit but still very informative

I dont think the system works if you are on the acelerator.

I8ABMR

Thanks for the heads up. The systems in the newer cars are going to cause some issues. I have friends with cars with the lane departure systems that complain if the system being over reactive. My TCS in my GS is extremely over reactive. It will activate and hit the brakes even when there is no tire slippage. It will go off just making hard turns out of a driveway. I have posted in the past on how the system almost got me hit trying to make a left turn quickly while oncoming traffic is coming. I hit the gas and then the system kicks in and delays the throttle from responding. All the while these cars and trucks are flying down the road towards me. I think these driver aids need to be turned the hell down.

LexFather

Thats b/c a lot of old people here have absolutely no taste (I've only seen like Helen Thomas types driving the ZitDX)

.

I saw another at ChickfilA, black with the bigger optional wheels and running boards and you would THINK it helps but it just comes across as Frankenstein wearing some Timberlands. What a horrible, horrible, horrible design. You have to be completely blind to buy it.

As for the system the author is complaining about it is unusual but it brings a point. Tech is making our drivers (who already are bad) worse and dependent on it.

I8ABMR you are talking about something totally different here. VDIM is much less obvious and more transparent than VSC and its not even close. The system the author is talking about kicks in at anytime, not "flooring" it as you are describing.

lucasb7

This problem is not only found in Acura's but many other makes as well. I personally have experienced it going over metal covers on the roadway in my Lexus. I'm sure it takes place in other makes as well. I for one, think that this is an acceptable occurrence so long as it doesn't actually apply full braking. The hugs aren't so bad!

<VENOM>

sounds like a pretty expensive option to turn off, if you opted to buy a ZDX with it on it, just look it up, 6000 bucks for that feature

Lets Drive

iTrader: (3)

In my experiences with the pre-collision system in the IS, it has been wonderful. I much prefer the advanced cruise feature where its supposed to be used (light traffic, not in poor weather, etc.), and the combination of defensive driving means the early pre-tension on the seatbelt helps to reduce lower back injury, in the event of an accident.

I'm not sure of the specifics, with regard to how Honda/Acura designed and optimized theirs, but I've had very few false-positives, and none in a situation that didn't call for it.

• Changing lanes and overtaking cars never caused any, since it detects the rate of speed of the vehicle in front, as well as your steering angle (I typically overtake starting from my usual 1-2 car following distance).
  
  
• Vehicles overtaking me don't cause issues, since they are often accelerating away, or merging into my lane as I'm already coasting, at a rate of speed which is safe for my typical following distance.
  
  
• Approaching a vehicle ahead of me thats turning, means I'm already braking from my 1-2 car following distance. If there is traffic, there isn't enough speed, so again, no false-positives.
  
  
• Objects in the road never caused issue, either, as they typically don't match a vehicle in size. The MD area has been seeing tons of construction with the ICC going up in the past few years, and speed-bumps, cones, steel plates, etc. exist everywhere...no issues.

That said, the technology most definitely isn't for everyone, especially at the premium its priced, and as with anything, its no substitute for an attentive driver. I've found it only adds to my level of safety and convenience, though, as opposed to being an over-sensitive intrusive addition to my commuting.

I'd love to take one of the Acura equipped models on a weeks worth of driving, to see how it compares.