While driving about 60 mph on a 2 lane, I had a near collision with a deer. My 2022 handled great. Hard on the brakes, and swerved with no loss of control. I was impressed, and happy. But- I am wondering about the FCA. should it trigger off an animal? I was directly in line with the back half of the deer, quite sure I would have it it without the emergency maneuver. Any thoughts on this?
I was going to speculate but realized I have better information. I understand radar in general will readily pick up water-laden objects.
The FCA is clearly designed with slow pedestrians crossing your path, or vehicles on the same track, in mind. @KiwiME 's diagrams show a work area going forward only 8m (26ft) from the front of the car - at 60mph (88ft/sec) you would cover that in 0.3 secs. My Kona manual states that FCA is not designed to detect other objects on the road such as animals..
Limitations are shown here and do not mention wildlife. The deer may have blended into the surroundings or simply appeared too abruptly for the camera to pick up. The radar is designed for larger moving objects such as vehicles. Not the first time a deer has been hit with Kona EV, this one turned out to be an expensive and time delayed repair, but all worked out in the end. This is the time of year (also in the spring) when they tend to hang around the highways, usually early in the am and late evening, I tend to slow down at the normal wildlife crossing areas, keeping a sharp eye out and centering on the middle line between the lanes (no cars around- divided Hwy), giving myself a little more time for evasive maneuvers as you performed above. I did hit one (in my Leaf) a few years back, fortunately she was OK and got up walking back to the bush. I did mange to almost miss and caught her with the back side of my car, so not a direct hit. Repairs to the car were minimal. I have thought it would be nice to customize the VESS sound and amplify it with sounds of a wolf pack in the attempt to scare them away, but have not pursued that to this point. Glad to hear your encounter was a "near miss" and no one (or animals) were injured
Mine has picked up pedal cyclist twice on my side of the road, I would suggest their profile is no bigger than some deer. It took me by surprise both times as there was no imminent danger at all. Sometimes this technology can be a PITA!
