[torkill]

I experienced the following this evening on my way home from work.

Scenario:
Construction area. Construction barrels separating oncoming traffic and my lane. Concrete barriers on right hand side. Oncoming lane had stopped traffic at traffic light. My lane shifted to the left just past the intersection. "Safety Shield" engaged.

Description:
I was the first car sitting at the light. When the light turned green, I pulled out. After I crossed through the intersection and turned the wheel to the left to follow the lane shift, the Forward Collision Detect warnings went ballistic and the Brake Assist tried bringing the car to a complete stop. Even trying to fight back by pushing the accelerator, it did bring the car to a near complete stop until the lane straightened out and the Brake Assist released. This all happened in just a few seconds at most.

Fortunately we had just pulled out from the traffic light and were not going very fast, and the car behind me was not very close. Granted, I think the systems may have done what they are programmed to do, but I can't help but wonder what the outcome would be were we moving at speed or the car behind me was following more closely....

Lesson Learned:
Turn off the safety shield in construction areas, although not sure if that also disables FCD/IBA.

 

[StevetheTech]

Interesting observations.

Reflectors on construction barrels and shifting lines are something I bet the camera/computer system are not fond of.

I agree with your fix. A quick flick of your right thumb should be able to shut the whole system down in the event of something unusual like that.

 

[chicagokevo]

Granted, I think the systems may have done what they are programmed to do, but I can't help but wonder what the outcome would be were we moving at speed or the car behind me was following more closely....

The brake assist only has maximum braking power of 40%, so it won't do anything drastic like slam the brakes to the point that it would cause a serious safety issue--assuming the car behind you isn't trailing dangerously close. At high speeds, you can override the system with much less resistance. This happens to me from time to time (even last night), esp. w/ all of the constant highway construction here in Texas. As you mentioned, given what we know about the behavior of the tech, a quick disabling of the safety shield is probably the best thing to do when approaching rapid lane shifts.

 

[ikagan]

Who supposed to inform you about upcoming construction area?
Maybe a phone call from Infiniti's personal assist 5 min before you get there?

 

[chicagokevo]

Who supposed to inform you about upcoming construction area?
Maybe a phone call from Infiniti's personal assist 5 min before you get there?

Not sure what's your point? To answer your question, I would take a wild guess and say that as a responsible driver, you should.

 

[ikagan]

My point is that a safety system is not supposed to react in a way that would
create a dangerous situation.

 

[StevetheTech]

My point is that a safety system is not supposed to react in a way that would
create a dangerous situation.

But again it comes back to the basic limitations of the system. While it can see the road ahead of you and it can see a map of the road ahead it cannot account for construction detours. Knowing several FX50 owners and a few others with the safety shield they have learned how to live with the various things the systems tend to do when the see things they do not care for. I drive a few of these models a week to verify the functionality of the systems and always have a thumb at the ready to shut everything down...is it ideal...probably not but it works.

It is close to autonomy, not actual autonomy.

Under ideal conditions it is a lot of fun and I can see the future of it, however it still has it's limitations and the pages of warnings and exclusions in the OM should be a little incite as to just what the system limitations are.