Some technical info about Toyota's Safety Sense systems.

Just drove 2017 Prius from Il. to Texas. The car woudl have run into a white truck and a tan pick up trailer and kept telling me to take a rest and kept beeping for lane changing. The RADAR COVERS WERE COVERED WITH ROAD DUST. I was ready to give the car back until I decided to clean the covers first. You must clean these even when covered with only a light dust. TOYOTA NEEDS TO TELL YOU THIS INSTEAD OF TELLING YOU TO REST.

 

It mentions keeping them clean in several places in the owner's manual...

 

It is certainly emphasised in the Gen 4 manual that even precipitation can affect the performance and the system could fail. Gotta keep it clean!

 

If the Lane Detection prompts you more than 6 or 8 times in rapid succession, it'll suggest a cup of coffee.

The other sensor/camera we are warned to keep clean is the one at the top of the windscreen.

 

Mine is generally sit down by prolific use of windscreen wipers. I guess the volume of British rain helps keep the camera clear of gunk!

 

Thanks! The "Rest" suggestion popped up on me one day after a 200 mile run, I looked for something in the settings to see if I'd requested it!

 

It's definitely in the settings but I can't remember exactly where because I'm in the house right now. Storms blowing outside ATM!

 

I was watching a YouTube video a couple of months ago and the driver made reference to Gen 4s LDA that he had not tested, but supposedly the system will (on a fairly straight and well marked highway) go for a distance of 6 miles, then slow to a stop assuming that The driver has lost consciousness if no inputs are made by the driver. I,d like to see if that is true, but a state trooper observing this would probably pull me over on suspicion of DUI...

 

I've not read that in any literature, official or otherwise. Sounds a bit like wild speculation to me.

 

I read much the same thing - but with VW, which, if the driver appears to be unresponsive, will bring the car to a stop, with Hazard Lights, in it's own lane. Certainly much sooner than 6 miles!!!

The new VW Arteon (a huge car just released here) "... will try to bring itself to an emergency stop, firstly by using the hazard lights and “gentle steering manoeuvres” to alert other road users about the dangerous situation, and using adaptive cruise control, park assistance, lane keeping assistance, and side assist, the Arteon will then move itself into the nearside lane and then come to a standstill."

I'm not sure if it is the same one (I think it was a Holden though) which dials 000 (999 for USA I think) EMERGENCY which will respond.

 

999 is for the bleedin' pommes who just got thrashed by the Ozzies.
Yankee emergency number is 911!

 

By the way @alanclarkeau , that's well an' truly thrashed....
Or perhaps there's a better Ozzie word I don't know????

 

Thrashed will do - are you talking Tennis or Cricket - they're playing them both here at the moment, but I've not followed either.

 

With some sadness, I have to admit I don't follow the Cricket either, but the Pomms just lost the ashes series 4-0. Crikey! That's a whitewash by any stretch of the imagination.

 

I used to listen to it as a kid and teenager - Crystal Radio, then watched it on TV when first married. Come my own children, I found other things to do.

 

The article on Automotive Phased Array Radar (APAR) is fascinating. It's from 2014, so is that the radar that's in Gen 4 or is that future still off in the future? I ask because someone here told me that the current DRCC steers with the steering wheel, which suggests to me a Phased Array.

 

We rented one of the new 2018 Camry’s (non hybrid) with all the goodies while on a recent vacation. The 2018 Camry is really nice!

Wow...the radar cruise control is awesome. The lane keep assist ( or whatever it’s called ) is very impressive too...I tested it a few times and it worked every time.

One odd thing though...The area of Florida we were driving through ( Homasassa to Orlando ) had a ton of rain and we went thru many large puddles. After going thru a few of these puddles the radar cruise control stopped working and it told me to clean the sensors. Of course, I had no idea where the sensors were. Restarting the car ‘cleared’ it temporarily but it stopped working after a few minutes.

At any rate, Toyota has a great safety package here. Now I want a 4th gen Prius with all the goodies.