This seems like a post that only comes up once in a while on these forums but I would like to share the letter I sent to Volvo's customer service. I'm not sure whether the ability to permanently disable automatic braking will ever be reinstated (considering the direction the automotive industry is headed) but I would like to at least bring this to prospective buyer's attention. In summary, I believe the automatic braking feature can become a dangerous liability in dense urban environments.
aeneaswalks
It has happened intermittently on my way home from work in a 25mph road during fall/spring. The situation that seems to trigger the automatic alarm/braking is:
a) the sun is low in the sky in the early evening,
b) the sun is shining directly on the front windshield, and
c) the sun is at a 90 degree angle to the direction of travel, coming from the driver's side.
I surmise from this situation that the sun is shining directly on the visual sensor that is attached to the front windshield, overwhelming the sensor.
a) the sun is low in the sky in the early evening,
b) the sun is shining directly on the front windshield, and
c) the sun is at a 90 degree angle to the direction of travel, coming from the driver's side.
I surmise from this situation that the sun is shining directly on the visual sensor that is attached to the front windshield, overwhelming the sensor.
While I haven't had this happen in my Volvo, my last car was an older A8, back when cars had emergency warnings, but didn't actually stop the car.
Good thing, too. I had the car go into full 'you're gonna die' mode, whole dashboard lit up and screaming, while I was doing about 60MPH on a bridge. If the car had slammed to the brakes, the cube truck behind me WOULD have hit me, and I might have ended up in the drink.
The culprit? A leaf blew up onto one of the radar sensors. I guess a concrete wall at 50 feet and some greenery at 1mm look about the same.
Apparently in newer Volvos the driver can override it by taking their foot completely off the gas and then getting back on it. Better than nothing, I guess, but by the time I 1) realize the car's slowing down, 2) it's the automatic emergency braking doing it, 3) it's an error, 4) remember how to override, 5) take my BAM hit by a dump truck.
The A8's system was great. Thing is, I'm totally okay with my car having all these sensors to warn me of stuff that I might miss. Heck, the A8 even 'primed' its brakes, not slamming on them, but letting the pads slide on them so the ABS could do its thing immediately. It yanked the seatbelts. And it SCREAMED at me. But it left the decision to me. Y'know. I never once even came close to an accident in that car.
Oh well. Even if you do I figure out how to turn it off, I wouldn't. If you do get into an accident they're gonna try to pin it on you for that whether it makes sense or not.
Good thing, too. I had the car go into full 'you're gonna die' mode, whole dashboard lit up and screaming, while I was doing about 60MPH on a bridge. If the car had slammed to the brakes, the cube truck behind me WOULD have hit me, and I might have ended up in the drink.
The culprit? A leaf blew up onto one of the radar sensors. I guess a concrete wall at 50 feet and some greenery at 1mm look about the same.
Apparently in newer Volvos the driver can override it by taking their foot completely off the gas and then getting back on it. Better than nothing, I guess, but by the time I 1) realize the car's slowing down, 2) it's the automatic emergency braking doing it, 3) it's an error, 4) remember how to override, 5) take my BAM hit by a dump truck.
The A8's system was great. Thing is, I'm totally okay with my car having all these sensors to warn me of stuff that I might miss. Heck, the A8 even 'primed' its brakes, not slamming on them, but letting the pads slide on them so the ABS could do its thing immediately. It yanked the seatbelts. And it SCREAMED at me. But it left the decision to me. Y'know. I never once even came close to an accident in that car.
Oh well. Even if you do I figure out how to turn it off, I wouldn't. If you do get into an accident they're gonna try to pin it on you for that whether it makes sense or not.
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