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Frontal collision detection reacting to a phantom car or pedestrian?

Discussion in 'Hyundai Kona Electric' started by Francois, Feb 6, 2020.

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  1. Feb 6, 2020 #1
    Francois

    Francois Active Member

    Living in snowy Montreal, it has happened a few times before that I would get a warning saying that the frontal collision avoidance is obstructed or turned off or something along those lines.

    That is easily remedied by getting out of the car, wiping the snow or slush out of the front sensor and stopping and restarting my car. It would probably eventually start to work even without restarting the car but I've discovered that it takes very long for the warning to go away unless if I shutdown/restart the car after having cleaned the sensor.


    However today I experienced something for the first time and I am worried because I could have gotten rear-ended if the car behind me had not been so far away.

    I'll try to give as much detail as I can.

    I was the 2nd or 3rd car in a lane and was waiting at a red light.

    When the light turned green, we started moving so my speed was still very low at this point. It was less than 30km/hr for sure, probably even less than 20km/hr.

    Then car that had been in front of me makes a right-turn right at the corner of the street to go on another street. So by the time I reach the corner of the street myself, probably 2-3 seconds had elapsed since the other car had already turned.

    But at moment the frontal collision warning alert screamed loudly and my car came to an abrupt stop as if I had pressed on the break pedal all the way with both feet!!! The stop was sudden enough to tip my car towards the front while lifting the back of my car if you know what I mean.

    I am wearing my seat-belt so I did not get hurt or hit my windshield or anything like that.

    But had another car been a few feet behind me when this happened, I am fairly certain that I would have gotten rear-ended because there was no reason why another driver would expect my car to stop so violently in a lane with no obstacles whatsoever.


    I don't know if my car somehow kept a residual image of the car that had previously been in front of me a few seconds before and thought it was still there? Or maybe it mistook a snow flake for a pedestrian?

    But this seems like a dangerous bug to me and I am now wondering if it would not be safer for me to turn-off frontal collision detection until the winter is over.

    Anyone else had a similar experience before?
     

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  2. Feb 6, 2020 #2
    KiwiME

    KiwiME Well-Known Member

    New Zealand '2019' EU, heat pump, pink coolant
    Oh, yeah, several similar events.
    Typically it's the same situation - a car ahead moves out of my lane to turn and the gap closes as it slows down but I don't.
    It's also happened when passing a row of parked cars on a sweeping corner.

    upload_2020-2-7_14-1-12.png

    I turned something off, FCA I think, and now I just get a beeping from what I think is the FCW.
     
  3. Feb 6, 2020 #3
    electriceddy

    electriceddy Moderator Staff Member

    Nanaimo BC, 2021 Kona Ultimate Built Sept 2020
    Kind of unnerving when that happens, fortunately no one was behind me when that occurred as well, in dry conditions.
     
  4. Feb 7, 2020 #4
    Francois

    Francois Active Member

  5. Feb 7, 2020 #5
    Wildeyed

    Wildeyed Well-Known Member

    Eastern Ontario 2019 Ultimate
    Yes, this happens. The Kona's idea of safe clearance distance, both forward and to the sides, from a car ahead of it is much larger than I or most drivers would estimate. I have found that applying the gas neutralizes the cars instinct to brake hard in these situations. Try it. I'm not sure the car's "wrong" in these situations, actually. While our experience as drivers and as humans tells us that it's okay to get so close to turning cars it would probably be better if we didn't. The car is just trying to protect us but it's too dumb to learn.
     
    nigels likes this.

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  6. Feb 7, 2020 #6
    nigels

    nigels Active Member

    Boston, MA USA
    I’ve also noticed that with smart cruise control enabled, when the car in front slows to turn or enters the exit lane on the highway that even after the car is out of the immediate line of sight, the Kona seems to think it’s still there and keeps on slowing down. I love smart cruise control, but I wish I could adjust how paranoid the car is in these scenarios.

    I’ve had the FCW trigger when approaching a line of cyclists. As a cyclist myself, I always give them a lot of space so I was surprised to have the FCW “comment” on my driving.
     

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