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Thread: 2019 Toyota Prius stops on its own due to snow and ice

  1. #1

    Exclamation 2019 Toyota Prius stops on its own due to snow and ice

    $#@! A Bunch Of Computer Cars



    Non-Emergency Automated Braking

    https://www.ericpetersautos.com/2018...mated-braking/

    By eric - November 18, 2018

    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.
    Another mark of a tyrant is that he likes foreigners better than citizens, and lives with them and invites them to his table; for the one are enemies, but the Others enter into no rivalry with him. - Aristotle's Politics Book 5 Part 11



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  3. #2
    Did he not read the instruction manual?
    It's all about taking action and not being lazy. So you do the work, whether it's fitness or whatever. It's about getting up, motivating yourself and just doing it.
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    Donald Trump / Crenshaw 2024!!!!

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  4. #3
    Maybe Toyota and Boeing can work together to fix the “features”...

    http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...ew-plane-crash
    "Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country, and giving it to the rich people of a poor country." - Ron Paul
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  5. #4
    Other drivers were probably were wondering why that idiot in the Prius...”

    I believe they think that everyday they see your car.
    Pfizer Macht Frei!

    Openly Straight Man, Danke, Awarded Top Rated Influencer. Community Standards Enforcer.


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  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Danke View Post
    Other drivers were probably were wondering why that idiot in the Prius...”

    I believe they think that everyday they see your car.
    Press car.

    Eric wouldn't own one of these things.

  7. #6
    I love the idiotic auto braking commercials where the ass $#@! driver is tailgating. But lo and behold, the automatic braking system totally overcomes the laws of physics, inertia, and a car traveling at 100 feet per second. It magically stops the car before it slams into the logging 18 wheeler in front of it.
    Last edited by NorthCarolinaLiberty; 11-19-2018 at 05:07 PM.
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    ...I believe that when the government is capable of doing a thing, it will.
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    which one of yall fuckers wrote the "ron paul" racist news letters
    Quote Originally Posted by Dforkus View Post
    Zippy's posts are a great contribution.




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  8. #7
    Pfft , all of you are wrong , a prius is not a car .
    Do something Danke

  9. #8
    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.
    What could possibly go wrong?
    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Paul View Post
    The intellectual battle for liberty can appear to be a lonely one at times. However, the numbers are not as important as the principles that we hold. Leonard Read always taught that "it's not a numbers game, but an ideological game." That's why it's important to continue to provide a principled philosophy as to what the role of government ought to be, despite the numbers that stare us in the face.
    Quote Originally Posted by Origanalist View Post
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  11. #9
    In other news Ford has patented the process for eliminating the "new car" smell. Because....Chinese.

    https://www.freep.com/story/money/ca...nt/2027822002/

  12. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by phill4paul View Post
    In other news Ford has patented the process for eliminating the "new car" smell. Because....Chinese.

    https://www.freep.com/story/money/ca...nt/2027822002/
    Probably cheaper to just hire Suzanimal.
    Pfizer Macht Frei!

    Openly Straight Man, Danke, Awarded Top Rated Influencer. Community Standards Enforcer.


    Quiz: Test Your "Income" Tax IQ!

    Short Income Tax Video

    The Income Tax Is An Excise, And Excise Taxes Are Privilege Taxes

    The Federalist Papers, No. 15:

    Except as to the rule of appointment, the United States have an indefinite discretion to make requisitions for men and money; but they have no authority to raise either by regulations extending to the individual citizens of America.

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post
    Press car.
    Eric wouldn't own one of these things.
    So the entire story is bull$#@!? Because it sure reads like it.
    I don't mind bitching about unwanted technology as much as the next curmudgeon; but it should be something real first.

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by phill4paul View Post
    In other news Ford has patented the process for eliminating the "new car" smell. Because....Chinese.

    https://www.freep.com/story/money/ca...nt/2027822002/
    According to the article Chinese consumers rate unpleasant smell about performance and safety.

    Interestingly, any Chinese crap I've bought off ebay smelled horrible. I even had to air out my monocle.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Paul View Post
    The intellectual battle for liberty can appear to be a lonely one at times. However, the numbers are not as important as the principles that we hold. Leonard Read always taught that "it's not a numbers game, but an ideological game." That's why it's important to continue to provide a principled philosophy as to what the role of government ought to be, despite the numbers that stare us in the face.
    Quote Originally Posted by Origanalist View Post
    This intellectually stimulating conversation is the reason I keep coming here.

  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by specsaregood View Post
    So the entire story is bull$#@!? Because it sure reads like it.
    I don't mind bitching about unwanted technology as much as the next curmudgeon; but it should be something real first.
    From the article...

    I was out test-driving a new Toyota Prius.
    Another article describing the same effects Eric encountered.


    Don’t blindly trust your car’s collision avoidance system
    Beware: snow, ice and even sunlight can prove disabling to most collision mitigation systems
    https://driving.ca/auto-news/news/do...oidance-system
    Last edited by phill4paul; 11-19-2018 at 06:40 PM.

  16. #14
    It's sad how they stopped trying to make better cars, and instead started shoving as much electronics as possible into these things. I'll be so miffed when our 30-year-old Ford finally gives up the ghost. Very little electronics, meaning any mechanic can work on it, so it's dirt cheap to service and repair. And it's reliable as hell. We did the math a while back and figured that the car has cost us about $1,200 a year, and that includes everything - purchase price, gas, service costs, insurance, car tax, everything.

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by phill4paul View Post
    From the article...
    I was out test-driving a new Toyota Prius.
    Another quote FTA
    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.
    How many test drives have you gone on where they made you scrape the ice off the windshield yourself?

  18. #16
    American automakers have their robotic arms tied behind their tailpipes because cars are under strict emissions and mileage regulations. Not so much with trucks, which is the classification of SUVs. This is why you see so many of them finding their ways to consumers.

    I would never recommend a Prius. They are a totally different breed of hybrid. If you run out of gas or leave your lights on it will mean a tow to a mechanic. Other hybrids can run for a short distance on one power source if the other goes out.
    #NashvilleStrong

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  20. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Suzanimal View Post
    What could possibly go wrong?
    The possibilities were explored by a man named Murphy.




    And the probability of something going wrong is directly proportional to the number of people watching.
    Last edited by pcosmar; 11-19-2018 at 09:44 PM.
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
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  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by specsaregood View Post
    So the entire story is bull$#@!? Because it sure reads like it.
    I don't mind bitching about unwanted technology as much as the next curmudgeon; but it should be something real first.
    No, it's a real car, a 2019 Prius that you can buy off the lot right now...he's reviewing it.

  22. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post
    No, it's a real car, a 2019 Prius that you can buy off the lot right now...he's reviewing it.
    And someone is paying him to do that?
    It's all about taking action and not being lazy. So you do the work, whether it's fitness or whatever. It's about getting up, motivating yourself and just doing it.
    - Kim Kardashian

    Donald Trump / Crenshaw 2024!!!!

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  23. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Federalist View Post
    No, it's a real car, a 2019 Prius that you can buy off the lot right now...he's reviewing it.
    I don't doubt that. I doubt that his story as detailed actually happened, it reads like B.S. and I usually like his work.

  24. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by specsaregood View Post
    I don't doubt that. I doubt that his story as detailed actually happened, it reads like B.S. and I usually like his work.
    Sounds like a rough draft.

    I have no doubt that it actually happened.

    There are more than enough examples of computer cars running amok in some fashion.

  25. #22
    Seriously, when I drive close to the water here in summer, I can hit swarms of flies... Like driving through black air. It's amazing your engine still gets enough air to continue normal operation... But what would that do to these sensors ?? Because it's time to wash your car.. For real.. After you went through a fly swarm.
    "I am a bird"

  26. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by specsaregood View Post
    Another quote FTA


    How many test drives have you gone on where they made you scrape the ice off the windshield yourself?
    Some dealers offer overnight test drives. He may have had it at his house when a storm hit. I dunno. You could go to his blog page and ask him yourself if it bothers you that much.

  27. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by NorthCarolinaLiberty View Post
    I love the idiotic auto braking commercials where the ass $#@! driver is tailgating. But lo and behold, the automatic braking system totally overcomes the laws of physics, inertia, and a car traveling at 100 feet per second. It magically stops the car before it slams into the logging 18 wheeler in front of it.
    Yes I have seen those commercials. What happens when a person is in a wreck and rear ends the vehicle in front of them? Will the owner be able to have the manufacturer be liable for the accident? If a collision happens would that mean that the car does not function as advertised?



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  29. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by phill4paul View Post
    Some dealers offer overnight test drives. He may have had it at his house when a storm hit. I dunno. You could go to his blog page and ask him yourself if it bothers you that much.
    He gets the car for a whole week to keep and drive as he sees fit.

    That's pretty much the standard arrangement for press cars.

    They want you to drive it as if you owned it.

    Except GM...GM won't send him any more cars to test drive because he runs a "hate" site.

    The Consequences of Being Politically Incorrect

    https://www.ericpetersautos.com/2016...lly-incorrect/

    By eric - October 28, 2016

    Well, at least they aren’t sending us to camps… yet.

    That’s probably next. One thing does follow another, like dominos. The logic of it being as inexorable, ultimately, as gravitational pull.

    So I ought not to be surprised that GM has pulled its panties tight and told me I will no longer be granted access to GM press vehicles because of the article (this one) I wrote a few weeks back about GM’s retiring Vice President of Diversity, the right reverend Dr. Eric Peterson, LLD, DDS.

    Well, GM hasn’t said it’s because of that.

    Sort of like not mentioning the role of the Moon’s pull on the inflow of the tide.

    It is just coincidence that, after an unbroken 23-year run of regular access to GM’s press fleet, of having written for almost every major auto mag/paper/web site, including cars.com, TheCarConnection, AOL Autos, The Detroit Free Press, Chicago Tribune, major airlines’ in-flight magazines… it just happens that a couple of weeks after that article ran, I get a sour note from Joseph LaMuraglia of GM’s “media team” (we’re all team players!) that their internal metrics or some such criteria as fed into an algorithm have spat out the result that I am no longer eligible:

    Eric,

    Thank you for your notes. As I mentioned before, we are in the midst of a restructuring of our fleets to reduce costs. This cost reduction involves reducing the number of vehicles and consequently, the number of loans we offer.

    Unfortunately, based on the responses you provided on the survey and the facts stated above, we cannot offer you any vehicles at this time.

    Thank you for your understanding.

    Joe LaMuraglia

    joseph.lamuraglia@chevrolet.com

    Meanwhile, EPAutos has more eyes on it than my old newspaper – The Washington Times – ever did.

    I mentioned this to LaMuraglia without effect.

    He, of course, did not mention the Peterson article, the true source of the trouble.

    Someone inside GM saw it and – no doubt – an outgushing of micro (and macro) aggressed aggrievement erupted.

    Within the company, to show less than orgiastic enthusiasm for “diversity” – however defined by the perpetually aggrieved – is a worse offense than forged engineering credentials or having designed a defective engine. One must demonstrate the sort of striving joy toward Persons of Color (except one color) described by Orwell when he portrayed the yoga-suited harpie female exercise (“physical jerks”) leader who put Winston Smith through his paces.

    “You’re not trying, Comrade! Anyone under 40 is perfectly capable of touching his toes! Watch me. I am 35 and I have had three children. There! That’s better!”

    This isn’t just GM; the entire industry is lousy with racial (and sexual) Stalinism. To be white and male is to be a cretin by default who must genuflect and atone; who must never, ever evince the slightest hesitation about embracing diversity.

    Your Libertarian Car Guy pulled away from the camel clutch – and now GM wants to make me hombel.

    Not just me, either.

    The message is clear: Do not criticize the gods else the gods will be angered. Cue smoke, glowing eyes and – where possible – thunderbolts of punishment.

    Oz is affronted!

    Well, good. It’s high time.

    Racial animosity – on the part of most whites – is a phantom menace. Myself – and other white guys I know – haven’t done any oppressing lately.

    I have, however, rolled my eyes at race-hustling “journalists” Of Color who hector the car company marketing/PR people at press conferences with race-laced questions about what efforts the company is making toward “increasing diversity” and “appealing to the (put racial/sexual/preferential category here, except straight white male) “community.”

    That is crime enough.

    Writing an actual column along those lines amounts to a capital offense – or the next best thing.

    I have been privileged (not in the racial entitlement sense) to have interviewed guys like Bill Porter, the Pontiac engineer who designed the gorgeous Honeycomb wheels that grace my ’76 Trans-Am and also early GTOs and other classic Pontiacs. I am privileged to know Martyn Schorr – a name car guys will immediately recognize. I have become friends with many people inside GM, some of whom remain – but must remain silent, else they will no longer remain there.

    The business is no longer about cars. It is about politics.

    Truckling, kowtowing and ass-licking.

    And it will be their undoing.

    The diversity mongers may have noticed that people begin to not care about cars much anymore. It is a dying business. Because who gets passionate about the number of air bags a car has? Its crash test scores?

    Whether an ad campaign is “diverse” enough?

    I touched the third rail. I mentioned an unmentionable, in print no less.

    Well, so be it.

    I’m not getting rich doing this. At least I have the compensation of knowing I didn’t suck the rancid tit when it was presented. Others who get paid more can do that.

    They have earned it, I suppose.
    Last edited by Anti Federalist; 11-20-2018 at 09:25 AM.



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