Photo: Reddit Screenshot/ r/mercedes_benz
Tesla and Elon Musk’s necks are on the line for issues related to autonomous vehicle operation. Top on the list is phantom braking reports that forced the NHTSA to launch an investigation on the automaker. But as it turns out, this might not be a ‘Tesla Only’ issue but an ADAS (Advanced driver-assistance systems) problem.
Recently, a Mercedes-Benz owner posted a video on Mercedes-Benz Subreddit that captured their 2022 CLA 250 suddenly braking while driving at 30 mph (48 kph). The video shows the driver cruising down an isolated street before suddenly screeching to a halt and returning to motion.
While the sudden braking didn’t lead to a collision, the driver admits things would have been different if another motorist was following behind.
“I was driving at 30 mph, and all of a sudden, the car decided to hit the brakes and halt. Any idea what could have led to it? Glad I didn’t have vehicles behind me else. It would’ve been a collision for sure,” the poster wrote.
Most participants in the thread attributed the sudden braking incident to the vehicle's emergency braking system triggered by dark tree shadows on the street, which could be a plausible cause. Others felt something might have obstructed the front-facing collision sensor.
“Tesla’s are known to have a similar issue with heavily shaded spots in otherwise sunny areas. See if you can replicate the issue in the same area and then try driving one lane over (sunnier),” a respondent suggested.
At the 0:14 second mark of the video, as the driver gets to a dark patched shadow formed by a nearby tree, the vehicle suddenly comes to a halt. It precisely brakes as it enters the shadows.
There are many theories about what happened, but the assistance package on the car (Mercedes Pre-Safe Plus emergency braking) is at the center of all the madness.
Technically, nothing could be wrong with the car, and it could be a typical malfunction with the system attempting to protect the driver from what it perceives to be an obstruction.
As much as automakers want to blame drivers for accidents caused by the systems, the recent series of events pokes holes at the current state of driver assistance systems and the future fully autonomous vehicles.
While the sudden braking didn’t lead to a collision, the driver admits things would have been different if another motorist was following behind.
“I was driving at 30 mph, and all of a sudden, the car decided to hit the brakes and halt. Any idea what could have led to it? Glad I didn’t have vehicles behind me else. It would’ve been a collision for sure,” the poster wrote.
Most participants in the thread attributed the sudden braking incident to the vehicle's emergency braking system triggered by dark tree shadows on the street, which could be a plausible cause. Others felt something might have obstructed the front-facing collision sensor.
“Tesla’s are known to have a similar issue with heavily shaded spots in otherwise sunny areas. See if you can replicate the issue in the same area and then try driving one lane over (sunnier),” a respondent suggested.
At the 0:14 second mark of the video, as the driver gets to a dark patched shadow formed by a nearby tree, the vehicle suddenly comes to a halt. It precisely brakes as it enters the shadows.
There are many theories about what happened, but the assistance package on the car (Mercedes Pre-Safe Plus emergency braking) is at the center of all the madness.
Technically, nothing could be wrong with the car, and it could be a typical malfunction with the system attempting to protect the driver from what it perceives to be an obstruction.
As much as automakers want to blame drivers for accidents caused by the systems, the recent series of events pokes holes at the current state of driver assistance systems and the future fully autonomous vehicles.
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