Lane Keep Assist warning

[css28]

And yet you trust yourself to never be distracted, never driving aggressively, to always be fully rested, and never, never, ever driving under the influence.

Yes--I take that responsibility seriously.
I occasionally use conventional cruise control on long trips when traffic density is low.
I have also motorcycled for decades, but am leaving that behind as I watch other drivers drifting while they text.
This has served me well since 1973 when I started driving.

 

[PHEV Newbie]

And yet you trust yourself to never be distracted, never driving aggressively, to always be fully rested, and never, never, ever driving under the influence.

That is why autonomous cars will save many, many lives. Even though the vast majority of drivers are careful and safe, it just takes that small percentage who aren't to kill 35,000 Americans annually. The conundrum is whether Americans will accept a few hundred killed in autonomous cars compared to tens of thousands caused human drivers. That sounds like a crazy question but it seems that we are not, based on the reaction to the woman killed by the Uber car.

 

[Mckersive]

I don't see the point if I have to keep my hands on the steering wheel and pay special attention in case it fails.

I actually like the lane assist even though I keep my hands on the wheel of the occasional mental lapses on long trips. I see it as the first warning system to the lane departure warning.

 

[KentuckyKen]

Its called Lane Keepimg ASSIST for a reason. It does not take the place of a driver’s continued careful and aware driving anymore than cruise control let’s you take a nap. It’s purpose is not to let you have hands free steering, it’s to make driving in some conditions a little safer if, for example, you get distracted. Think of it like cruise control which aides you in keeping a steady speed and correct distance, but which requires you to be ready to intervene as necessary. It makes your burden of safe driving a little easier but it is not meant to totally remove that burden.
As Merkersive states it’s a good warning system and I too like it when I do something foolish like look down to change music and drift over by mistake. The only thing I don’t like about it is having to turn it on every time I start the car.

 

[loomis2]

My favorite use for it is being able to open a plastic Coke bottle for the first time. You know how the cap has the tamper ring around the bottom so it takes two hands to easily open it, lane keep assist makes it easier to accomplish that without putting everyone's lives in danger.

 

[kkiran]

While these warnings are too frequent for my liking, I like all the tech Clarity has to offer. Once we get used to Clarity's safety features, we sure can make our long drives a little more comfortable.

 

[jdonalds]

While these warnings are too frequent for my liking, I like all the tech Clarity has to offer. Once we get used to Clarity's safety features, we sure can make our long drives a little more comfortable.

I agree. I play with all of the features around town, but they become much more appreciated on those long drives. On our 550 mile drive over Easter weekend it certainly made the trip more comfortable - and interesting.

While we were in the San Francisco area, experiencing real traffic issues for the first time in many months, the car made the stop-and-go driving on the freeways much easier due to the low speed follow features. Then on the light traffic at high speed on the less congested freeways I just let the ACC do it's job - mostly.

There are still two things that bother me about ACC/Low-Speed-Follow.
1) The slowing and breaking algorithm needs work. The car waits too long to begin slowing when the car in front has slowed or stopped in many cases, breaking too hard when the gap closes rapidly. Then in other cases it brakes hard when it isn't called for. I don't think the car has enough sensors and makes some bad decisions. Just for straight follow at freeway speeds though it is a nice feature.

2) The acceleration algorithm also needs work. When in low speed follow the car in front starts to move the Clarity responds so slowly (after I push the Res button) that it is uncomfortable and irritates the cars behind me. I have to use the accelerator pedal to assume a more normal increase in speed. When on the freeway behind a truck going 60 mph if I change lanes to pass the truck I either have to apply the accelerator to speed up entering the second lane, or make sure any cars in that lane are well back so the Clarity can painfully and slowly accelerate up to the set speed.

 

[bpratt]

There are still two things that bother me about ACC/Low-Speed-Follow.

My first experience with ACC was on a 2017 Toyota Corolla that I rented on vacation last year. It worked flawlessly. I hope Honda can eventually update the Clarity's ACC to work as well as the Corolla did.

 

[CupertinoClarity]

I agree. I play with all of the features around town, but they become much more appreciated on those long drives. On our 550 mile drive over Easter weekend it certainly made the trip more comfortable - and interesting.

While we were in the San Francisco area, experiencing real traffic issues for the first time in many months, the car made the stop-and-go driving on the freeways much easier due to the low speed follow features. Then on the light traffic at high speed on the less congested freeways I just let the ACC do it's job - mostly.

There are still two things that bother me about ACC/Low-Speed-Follow.
1) The slowing and breaking algorithm needs work. The car waits too long to begin slowing when the car in front has slowed or stopped in many cases, breaking too hard when the gap closes rapidly. Then in other cases it brakes hard when it isn't called for. I don't think the car has enough sensors and makes some bad decisions. Just for straight follow at freeway speeds though it is a nice feature.

2) The acceleration algorithm also needs work. When in low speed follow the car in front starts to move the Clarity responds so slowly (after I push the Res button) that it is uncomfortable and irritates the cars behind me. I have to use the accelerator pedal to assume a more normal increase in speed. When on the freeway behind a truck going 60 mph if I change lanes to pass the truck I either have to apply the accelerator to speed up entering the second lane, or make sure any cars in that lane are well back so the Clarity can painfully and slowly accelerate up to the set speed.

I feel the same way. Acceleration in ACC is better, however, out of ECO mode. Try that. My wife thinks the acceleration and braking is too abrupt. I don’t mind it but it is nowhere as smooth as Tesla’s autopilot.

I’d also like a feature to change each “click” of the ACC +/- to be 5mph. Tesla defaults to this. I know I can hold down to get 5mph increments but it’s too easy to overshoot or miss the mark.

 

[iHack]

You can upgrade the cars LKAS and ACC with OpenPilot.

Apparently the current version 6.0 is pretty smooth. Comparable to AP2.

 

[M.M.]

You can upgrade the cars LKAS and ACC with OpenPilot.

I'd never heard of that project before--thanks for sharing.

I mean, there's absolutely no way I'm putting something with a 0.6 version number in control of a vehicle I'm in on public highways, but it's still a very cool concept. Watching that guy let the thing go on a 2-lane road was pretty unnerving, though--the margin for error with oncoming traffic like that is so small it's going to be a long time before I'm going to take my hands off the wheel without some distance or a barrier between me and cars going the opposite direction.

 

[KentuckyKen]

I’m with @M.M. on this one. This looks like it could bring new meaning to “the blue screen of death”.
At least until perfected with redundancy and with a hard wired power source.

 

[iHack]

It's in its early stages right now, but the idea of bringing L2 autonomy to all modern cars is amazing.

 

[MajorAward]

It's in its early stages right now, but the idea of bringing L2 autonomy to all modern cars is amazing.

The idea is amazing. I wish them the best, and hope the software continues to improve. It's fun to test the ability of the Clarity to track in a lane on well marked roads. It actually does a decent job of keeping between the lines. Over the past few days, however, Ive been driving lots of miles on back country roads with no shoulder lines, sometimes faded center lines or shoulder lines, or both. As you may expect, the Clarity does not do well in these conditions, and will drive over faded center lines with late or no correction offered. I wonder if a Tesla would fare any better in the same conditions.

I don't know the answer to that, but to me, autonomous driving cars still seem a long way off. I'm thinking 20-30 years before it is common. But I seriously hope I am wrong.

 

[iHack]

The Nidec camera in the Clarity isn't actually used, it's using the camera in the Eon. But yeah, lane tracking requires at least one clear line on the road to function. I believe Tesla is the same way in requiring clear markings. For me at least, I really think L5 autonomy is a pipe dream, and the biggest use of autonomous vehicles will only be in highway driving as its simple and easy to predict.

I drive from the Bay Area to Las Vegas maybe 2 - 3 times a year and large portions of road are just straightaways or slight curves, which is the perfect use of SDCs. I honestly don't know if any company can breakthrough to in-city driving just because of the increased edge cases and variables like pedestrians or cross traffic.

L2 is already here but it needs work, L4/5 is definitely a long way off and like I said may be impossible due to edge cases. But who knows, Tesla has said as long as it becomes safer than human drivers (not become perfect), then that's a win.