FCA limitations - Is it strange that the frontal collision avoidance system only works at 50mph and below?

[Drvelocity]

I always thought frontal collision avoidance systems would be most useful in high speed conditions, and assumed it would be most useful here as well in terms of preventing major accidents. I was surprised to see that Kia's system only works up to 50 mph. Is that typical across other manufacturers? Or a CYOA legal cutoff?

What's really strange is that if you have cruise control on it will follow a car in front of you, and ostensibly brake hard if the car brakes hard in front of you - but I haven't found any indication of exactly how hard it will brake and/or if any warnings will sound. Anyone have any experience in what happens in these situations?

Does this car try to avoid any other kinds of accidents at speed? Like it someone came across a median and was heading in your direction from a slight angle, it won't do anything to avoid that correct?

 

[mshabana]

I always thought frontal collision avoidance systems would be most useful in high speed conditions, and assumed it would be most useful here as well in terms of preventing major accidents. I was surprised to see that Kia's system only works up to 50 mph. Is that typical across other manufacturers? Or a CYOA legal cutoff?

What's really strange is that if you have cruise control on it will follow a car in front of you, and ostensibly brake hard if the car brakes hard in front of you - but I haven't found any indication of exactly how hard it will brake and/or if any warnings will sound. Anyone have any experience in what happens in these situations?

Does this car try to avoid any other kinds of accidents at speed? Like it someone came across a median and was heading in your direction from a slight angle, it won't do anything to avoid that correct?

I wish someone would answer you on this.I'm beginning to be very curious of how and if the FCA works properly and if it is safe?

 

[rvv2002]

Can someone confirm? Routinely have HDA/SCC on highway and have it slow down, but haven't had IT slam brakes for me. I've definitely had it alarm/beep while going 70 and then I personally slammed the brakes....... Am I wrong to assume the car is supposed to slam brakes as well if I didnt react?

 

[Husker Soze]

Here's a non-scientific test of a Kia FCA ...

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[Gwyn]

i have been at highway speeds 55-60 when someone cut me off and slammed on their brakes. The car gave a warning, then aggressively applied pressure to the brakes. I don't think I could have any better. The car was just a fraction faster then I was. They came to a complete stop and so did I. Would I have hit them with out the cars help, no. But I did not need to do anything and the car took over.

One thing to remember. Most of the hardware for fully self driving cars is all ready installed on our cars. But the actual saying what it can and can not do is both a legal and technological snake pit. From a by the book definition what the car did was level 3 driving, even though it is only a level 2 car. And we should not trust that it will always work because no one said it would.

 

[Steve in Denver]

I did notice the specs that said it only worked below 50 MPH (or whatever) and wondered if that was just a CYA move from Kia, or if the system actually shuts off above a certain speed. If it actually shuts off above 50 (sounds like some owners have had it clearly working at higher speeds), then I may have opted for a different vehicle. I don't think either of my other two vehicles with it had a max speed for it to work.

I wish Kia would clarify this.

 

[Husker Soze]

I did notice the specs that said it only worked below 50 MPH (or whatever) and wondered if that was just a CYA move from Kia, or if the system actually shuts off above a certain speed. If it actually shuts off above 50 (sounds like some owners have had it clearly working at higher speeds), then I may have opted for a different vehicle. I don't think either of my other two vehicles with it had a max speed for it to work.

I wish Kia would clarify this.

Not sure where you read the specs about the 50 MPH limitation. But I would suggest reading the Owners Manual (starting at p. 5-57) if you want more details on FCA.

 

[Steve in Denver]

Not sure where you read the specs about the 50 MPH limitation. But I would suggest reading the Owners Manual (starting at p. 5-57) if you want more details on FCA.

I will check the manual when I get a chance. I have seen the "does not work above speeds of 50 mph" statement several times. Here is an example that seems official:

https://owners.kia.com/content/dam/kia/us/owners/pdf/2020/2020-Kia-Telluride-Vehicle-Feature-Tips-min.pdf

In the second bullet point under the "Reminders" section on page 3:

FCA-Ped/FCW will not operate when the vehicle is traveling faster than approximately 45/50 mph, respectively.

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[Husker Soze]

I will check the manual when I get a chance. I have seen the "does not work above speeds of 50 mph" statement several times. Here is an example that seems official:

https://owners.kia.com/content/dam/kia/us/owners/pdf/2020/2020-Kia-Telluride-Vehicle-Feature-Tips-min.pdf

In the second bullet point under the "Reminders" section on page 3:

FCA-Ped/FCW will not operate when the vehicle is traveling faster than approximately 45/50 mph, respectively.

I'm pretty sure the sample you're citing is the limitation of FCA for pedestrians/cyclists.

As for actual vehicles....the FCA is supposed to operate after 5 MPH and up to 100 MPH.

Let me know what you think when you read the manual.

 

[Steve in Denver]

OK. I finally got a chance to look in the manual (In my manual the FCA discussion starts on 5-59, btw) and it does explicitly say up to 100 mph for vehicles and up to 55 mph for pedestrians and cyclists.

The information in the 4 page document that I linked to seems to be a condensed overview of the system, so it didn’t break out the specs for peds and cars separately (lumped them all together and used the lower 55mph value)

I feel a lot better about that now. Thanks.

 

[Husker Soze]

OK. I finally got a chance to look in the manual (In my manual the FCA discussion starts on 5-59, btw) and it does explicitly say up to 100 mph for vehicles and up to 55 mph for pedestrians and cyclists.

The information in the 4 page document that I linked to seems to be a condensed overview of the system, so it didn’t break out the specs for peds and cars separately (lumped them all together and used the lower 55mph value)

I feel a lot better about that now. Thanks.

I keep forgetting that the online manual that I referenced have a slightly different numbering/paging vs the printed one.