AkioToyoda4Ever

I had to accelerate coming out of a parking lot to avoid a bicycle rider speeding towards me from the side while stareing at his phone.

The car detected the other car in front of me being "too close" and slammed the breaks and partially disabled the accelerator pedal response on me while the message appeared: "object detected; acceleration reduced" (or something like that).

I can't help but imagine this causing an accident with a speeding vehicle behind you in a situation where being too close to the vehicle in front of you is the safer option.

So...how to I permanently turn this stupid thing off?

KennyFSU

That sounds like the Pre-Collision System (PCS). I disabled mine (button under the steering column, almost to the pedals) but unfortunately, I get a dash light on while the PCS is deactivated.

macmaster

So did you safely avoid the bicycle and the car in front of you? If you did it sounds like everything did its job.

ScytheDC

Sounds like it worked as intended?

More than likely the system prevented you from hitting the other car. I think when you leave a parking lot you should check to see if there’s cross traffic on the sidewalk before pulling onto it (that would avoid collisions with pedestrians and bikers) and then check for cross traffic on the road. Then you won’t have to accelerate out of a parking lot towards another car to avoid a biker hitting you.

As long as you maintain a safe distance from the car in front of you the system won’t activate. This system can’t prevent rear end collisions where the person behind you is following too closely or not paying attention.

AkioToyoda4Ever

I appreciate the defensive driving lessons as well as the concern for the bicyclist, however I was simply asking if it were possible to turn it off permanently.

AkioToyoda4Ever

Thank you.

Incognito23

A "safety" system can never account for every situation on the road, and giving over control of your vehicle to sensors and computers is going to get someone killed (in fact, in numerous situations, it has). Saying that because everyone escaped unscathed is proof the system "worked" is to pass judgement on the driver who was actually live and in person during the incident, not typing away at their keyboard from hyperspace. An aware, competent vehicle operator using equipment that responds to his/her controls, can also escape unscathed, and often without need for changing underwear afterward. I've not yet found the safety nannies in the IS to be problematic (I owned an A6 that I was convinced was trying to get me killed), but I'd just as soon do without them, thank you. JMO.

arentz07

I would consider the situation which prompted you to create this thread. A cyclist looked to be heading straight for your car, and if you didn't move, they could have collided with it. Is this scenario likely to continue to happen? I would imagine not. However, if a driver cuts you off or you happen to be the least bit distracted in high traffic, you could be at risk of accidentally rear-ending the vehicle in front of you. This, unlike the bike rider incident, would be your fault when it comes to insurance claims (at least, in most states in the US, rear-end collisions are almost always the fault of the driver in the rear). Personally, I'd much rather deal with that issue. If I am positioned such that traffic is moving perpendicularly to my car while being in their way, I feel like I have made an error. However, I acknowledge that bikes are a bit weird, since they can go on the sidewalk or in small spaces between cars.

I also think you can drive with this system off if you fully disable traction and stability control, but please understand that that is at your own risk for multiple reasons.

AkioToyoda4Ever

I can think of many scenarios where it is preferable to be the at-fault driver of a minor collision or near-miss in order to avoid a catastrophic major collision or to protect human life (a speeding truck ramming me from behind and harming or killing my rear seat passengers at a red light).

This is the first vehicle I own that makes the decision for me and I don't like it.

Also, a vehicle keeping the driver from being the at-fault party by limiting his personal judgement and options is better serving the insurance companies more than it serves the driver.

arentz07

Right, but do you realize that the speeding truck could have avoided the crash more easily or simply lowered the speed of the crash if it was equipped with a pre-collision braking system? Also, if you are in such a situation where the truck is carrying enough speed to be "killing" your passengers while you are too close to the vehicle in front of you for the PCS's liking, moving forward a little bit probably is not going to help.

Have you tried flooring the accelerator? I think if you hit the kick-down switch, the car should still move.

AkioToyoda4Ever

In today's distracted world, pre-collision systems have been proven to reduce accidents and save lives.

At the same time there is growing evidence they also cause certain accidents. In fact, there is a host of legal firms specializing in lawsuits related to these new technologies causing damages and fatalities (the system mistaking a guardrail for an object and slamming the brakes) ...

I think arguments can be made both ways.

Overall, I feel that people's lack of personal accountability and responsibility increasingly limits our personal choice and decision making. This is simply one example.

ScytheDC

This is all you need to say and it’s completely valid, really. These systems are on a lot of cars today and they have been for quite sometime. The main reason for this is because they statistically perform better than humans when they are needed - not accounting for for the extreme outlier conditions. Not having control is hard especially when we don’t understand fully what’s running in the background.

ScytheDC

I’m surprised you have an IS if you don’t like ‘nannies’. The safety systems in Toyota passenger cars are layered.

macmaster

There is 1 safety system I absolutely loathe: that pesky PKSB. Parking Support Brake. Whoever thought that braking for me, while I'm in the middle of braking myself and negotiating tight parking spaces or garages, was a good idea????????????

Lex_Giorgio

Same here!
I almost got rear ended because of it.

The car in front of me decided to slam the brakes for no apparent reason at a green light, my IS braked by itself, and for those that haven't experienced this system, you have to wait a few seconds before it lets you accelerate again (which is crucial in these scenarios).
Good thing the car behind me went around both of us, otherwise I would have gotten rear ended because of this "safety" system.

And yes, I was following close, with the bare minimum room for error between me and the car in front.