Guest Post by Eric Peters
Something strange – and dangerous – happened to me the other day while I was out test-driving a new Toyota Prius.
The car decided it was time to stop. In the middle of the road. For reasons known only to the emperor.
Or the software.
I found myself parked in the middle of the road – with traffic not parked coming up behind me, fast. Other drivers were probably were wondering why that idiot in the Prius had decided to stop in the middle of the road.
But it wasn’t me. I was just the meatsack behind the wheel. The Prius was driving.
Well, stopping.
Like almost all 2019 model year cars, the Prius has something called automated emergency braking. It’s a saaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety system meant to correct for distracted driving – or just slow-to-react driving.
Sensors embedded in the car’s front and rear bumpers scan the perimeter and if they see something in your path that you don’t – or you haven’t applied the brakes in time to avoid hitting whatever it is – the system will automatically brake for you.
That’s the Cliffs Notes version of how it’s supposed to work, at any rate.
The other day, it worked . . . differently.
In a way that Toyota – and not just Toyota – may not have anticipated.
But should have.
This instance of non-emergency braking may have occurred because we had an ice storm the previous day. Everything got shellacked with a coating of the stuff.
I scraped the ice off the windshield and side glass before I headed out – as people have been doing for generations – so that I could see. The problem – I suspect – was that the car couldn’t see.
Those sensors embedded in the bodywork were probably still covered by ice, giving the car a case of temporary glaucoma. As a result, the Prius may have thought it saw something in the road – and slammed on its brakes to avoid hitting what wasn’t there.
To prevent this from happening, those sensors must be kept clean. Especially if there’s no way to turn off the saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety system tied into those sensors. Which in most cases, there isn’t.
But people haven’t been advised about keeping those sensors clean – at least, not strongly enough. There is info to that effect in the fine print of the owner’s manuals of most cars quipped with this feature, including the Prius.
But even if one is diligent about checking (and cleaning off) the car’s various embedded sensors before one begins driving, what about while one is driving?
Weather happens sometimes.
It was sunny and clear when you left the house – or are on your way home from work – but mid-trip, it begins to snow or sleet . . . and the car’s entire front end (where those sensors are embedded) gets coated by slush/slurry/road spray . . . and the car can no longer see very well or even not at all.
What then?
There aren’t warning icons/buzzers in the gauge cluster of any new car equipped with this system (so far as I have been able to determine) to let you know that it’s time to stop and wipe off the bumpers because the car can no longer see – and (like your grandma, who also can’t see very well anymore) might just do something unpredictable.
This is arguably . . . dangerous.
The car braked hard, too.
I can now describe what the dashboard of a Prius tastes like. Needs A1.
And I wasn’t able to countermand the car. Dead stop – no matter how hard I pressed down on the gas. The car wouldn’t budge for several seconds that felt much longer than that as I eyed the car in the rearview getting bigger and bigger as it got closer and closer.
Luckily for me, he wasn’t tailgating.
Had he been, an accident would have been all-but-certain. The Prius would have been accordionized.
It’s another example of saaaaaaaaaaafety technology that brings with it unpleasant – potentially lethal – unintended consequences; new risks which didn’t exist before. Other examples include air bags, which can kill or maim you as well as save you, depending on when – and how – they go off.
What if I had been on a busy Interstate highway with a speed limit of 70 instead of a lazy country road with a speed limit of 45? What if an eighteen-wheeler had been behind me doing 70 when the Prius erroneously decided it was time to jam on the brakes?
Leaving aside my gruesome death – who would get the blame for it?
Me? Or the car?
Better call Saul.
Automated emergency braking is one of several technologies now commonly available (and often standard equipment) in new cars that pre-empt the driver’s decisions – which opens up a yuge can of legal worms.
Another one of these saaaaaaaaaaaaafety technologies is lane keep assist, which countersteers (using electric motors connected to the steering gear) when the car thinks the driver is veering out of his intended lane of travel.
The problem is that sometimes the driver is leaving his lane on purpose – perhaps to avoid something that actually is in the road (a big pothole, maybe a dog) or during a passing attempt. If the driver doesn’t use his turn signal – not a high priority during an emergency maneuver – the system assumes it needs to correct – and the car fights the driver’s steering inputs.
This is arguably not very saaaaaaaaaafe, either.
It’s also incredibly annoying to be parented by your car.
And there’s more – and worse – coming.
Already here.
I just got finished test-driving the new (2019) Subaru Forester. It comes with a facial recognition saaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety system that scans your face (and eyes) as you drive and if the car thinks it sees you take your eyes off the road – even when you haven’t or just briefly – it will poke you in the ribs – electronically and audibly – via a buzzer/warning light in the dashboard.
We’re being systematically pushed out of the driver’s seat while we’re still in it. And while were still technically (and legally) responsible for whatever the car does.
Strange days, indeed.
Hey Eric – WTF – a 4:35 minute video – when 20 seconds would be enough.
It’s been this way with back-up sensors – get snow/ice on them – and they give erroneous beeps. I have a new Subaru Outback, you can turn off all those automatic features. I turned the lane assist off the first day.
You only think you turned them off. I guarantee that all can be turned back on anytime that Big Bro (or Big Subaru, or whatever hacker has the means) wants them turned on. They will be able to brake and steer you off the road, al without (they hope) wrecking cars or killing people. Or not, depending on what they want to accomplish.
They let you think you have final control over that “auto” mobile. You don’t. They do.
His voice sounds like a guy Toyota would hire to explain why automated braking is something only an idiot would object to. I’d expect someone so wary of the government to say “fuck” a lot and get more animated. At the end, he calmly says “looks like there’s a porker up ahead” instead of “goddamn cops”.
I know I brake better than antilock brakes do. Young people seem more prone to believe that automated systems work better than an experienced driver – when the truth is that ABS only works better than a shitty driver – so the younger set will accept automation, just like they’re ok with Google having their DNA.
There should be a car with no computers – just for us Enemy of the State types – but then the government would track those cars extra good.
There’s plenty of cars without computers available. They’re called “used”.
I’ve never owned a new car, and doubtless never will. By choice, I could afford it easily, but I don’t see the point. Currently I own a ’91 and an ’87 model. They do me fine.
Crazy time indeed.
Just a month ago, friends dropped by for a visit. They had just purchased a brand new Volkswagen and wanted to show it it off. The car was much like this one below. A nice ride….
Everyone impressed we all went for a drive. Not far from home, the driver is filling me in on all the options and claiming that the car will basically drive itself. He could tell I was skeptical. So he decides to test out the steering feature.
It wasn’t exactly a sharp turn and was a nice day.
Early fall so no snow. No rain. Daytime. Perfect conditions!
There is nothing there that should be a imminent threat to the computer code steering the car. Yet when the driver let go of the steering wheel, the car made its way to the centerline. As the yellow lines approached it corrected, sending the vehicle on yet another vector. This time to white lines on side of road. The ditch beyond seemed like a distinct possibility..
The entire sequence was machine-like and mechanical. Almost tank-like as it changed direction.. If road had been slippery it would have turned out much worse but for now that day was saved by a driver grabbing the steering wheel.
Faith alone in technology doesn’t win the day.
It didn’t work in the mud at Kursk.
Didn’t win in rice paddies of Vietnam.
Doesn’t prevail now in Afghanistan or Iraq.
And yet this is the future. Coming to roads near and far whether it is wanted or not. People who do not have the time to drive. The snowflakes now threatening us are not on the road. They are gawking at their phones. Trolling for likes and reposts instead of worrying about the crack in the road. And if a few find the ditch along the way it will be but a small price to pay…
I test drove a vehicle with lane keeping, and it damn near put me in the woods. No thank you.
Test driving a Prius. Smaaaart.
Well, I have been planning on remaining an Iron Age driver for as long as I am on the roads. BUT, I would like to know how the sensors respond to salt spray and road dirt suspended in water when in heavy traffic. My car is bright red. Even in North Carolina I have come home with a white/gray car after 150 miles. So how do I detect whether the car(s) in front is going to go rogue? Any experience with that? So the default setting for driver assist should be OFF if any of the sensors are not running 5×5. Dutch- what say you?