radar collision avoidance system Rant.
 

I just saw on TV that Mazda has introduced radar collision avoidance. Guess it gives the doodlebugs driving them another reason to reduce their situational awareness another notch. Check your mirrors. No need to.

In the mean time my AM/FM radio which I play sometimes has to be able to reject another form of electronic pollution. What happens when your radar is picked up by other drivers radar.

Just something else that I don't need.

Hey, if it keeps a numpty from rear-ending me, it's all good :)

My latest car has several of the features that comprise the suite of eight I-Activesense features available in the Mazda 6, including the radar cruise control, and I like it because while it doesn't lull me into any false sense of security, it is nice nevertheless to feel that the car has your back. Just set the cruise for, say, 65, and as you drive down the interstate you maintain that speed unless and until you come up behind a car in your lane that is driving more slowly. In that case, your car slows down, applying the brakes lightly if necessary, and maintains a gap (which I can adjust in size) between the vehicles. If the passing lane is clear, I can pull out, and the radar, recognizing the clear lane, allows the car to accelerate back to the set speed.

It is a good system, but has its limitations: Because of the existence of two-lane roads with oncoming traffic, the cone of radar detection is relatively narrow from a left-to-right perspective (to keep the system from crapping its pants if it spots an oncoming car being driven normally in its own lane). If a car is a moderate distance in front of you, and can be picked up by the radar while both cars are on a straight section of road, it is possible that if the car in front of you enters a decently sharp curve, the radar will lose track of the preceding car, and the cruise system will prompt acceleration if you were traveling below the set speed before you entered the curve. The acceleration is not strong and can be easily countered by the driver, but it does point out a limitation of the system. A similar limitation can be noted if you are driving on a road with a lot of up and down pitching (driving on a road with a lot of short but steep hills). If the nose of the radar-equipped car pitches up or down too much, the radar will lose track of the preceding car and some acceleration can occur. Again, nothing wild, but it can happen. Ford goes to great pains to explain these shortcomings in the owner's manual, and the driver can elect not to use the radar control, controlling the speed manually, or can set the cruise control to a non-radar setting, and use the old-school type of cruise control that will attempt to maintain a set speed unless defeated by the driver.

Interesting system, which will no doubt undergo more refinement as the years progress.

Funny, that sounds like a prop driven fighter pilot talking about those new fangled jet fighters with their HUD, targeting systems and defense systems.

Couldn't it instead be programmed to ignore speed differentials beyond a certain point (say, if you're going X MPH, ignore speeds > X MPH)?

I wonder if radar detectors pick up radar cruise control.

Oh, and X2 to spdrun.

Not sure what you're driving at, or why??

Why would one not want a collision avoidance system on their car?

What's the advantage to not having one that could save your life, or at the very least avoid a collision?

Common sense rant /over.....

I wonder about that, as even with a narrow cone of detection, if a radar-equipped car is on a right-hand curve, and an oncoming car approaches, the radar would likely sweep over the oncoming car. Perhaps there is some math involved.

Nahh.

Noting at all beats driver attention. Nothing.

BUT my BMW has the blind spot monitor. And that really works, too. Especially to warn you when a very fast moving vehicle approaches you in the lane you are about to change into, even when you are signalling the lane change already that you are preparing to make.

Gizmos like adaptive cruise control could help too when traffic stops ahead of you lightning fast. ESPECIALLY if the car in front of you has tail lights that don't work.

Do you know what the min and max ranges are?

What happens if an object such as a deer or someone on a bike comes into the radar sensors? Will it apply max stopping force or only if they are in the path of the vehicle, or not at all?

Excellent informative post.

(Worthless for drivers that drink too much and drive. Or text and yap on their god damn phone when they drive)

Auto radar is operating in V and W freq range, 59 - 100G GhZ. Not going to pop off the detector. This is fairly short range radar at this freq.

If I installed that in your car, would it make you check the mirrors less? I doubt it. Crashes happen relative infrequently that it won't be an issue that pops to the driver's mind as to whether he checks or not.

Depends on what frequency it is on. If your radio is at 500 Hz and you have a 2000 Hz source, will it matter?

You maybe but are YOU the standard for all? If I choose to buy the car with the gizmo and I can afford it, what does it matter to you?