[isitjustme]

I wonder if others have experienced “phantom” autonomous emergency braking (AEB). I have a new (only 700 miles) electric MG4 that, without any warning or reason, suddenly decided to perform an emergency stop. The van driver who was following me only just managed to avoid a collision. I think I can guess what he thought, and probably said, about of my driving!


I took the car back to the dealership. The car’s memory data showed that it had recorded an “AEB” event but it did not provide any information as to the cause. I was told that it could have been for several reasons including “a shadow on the road”! I asked whether they would be reporting the occurrence to MG and was advised that they would not because there was nothing to indicate that there was a fault.


Car technology is advancing at a fast pace with many autonomous safety features becoming widely available and indeed required by legislation. However it is questionable whether some systems have been developed sufficiently to ensure that they don’t solve one issue only to create another problem. Yes, you can manually turn off some systems but you need to do this every time you get into the car. Until they can be made to work properly my advice to other drivers if you are following an EV (or any other new car) is to leave extra space because it might just make an emergency stop if there is a shadow on the road.

[olduser]

I would contact MG urgently;

https://www.mg.co.uk/contact-us

That was totally irresponsible of the agents.

This is a safety issue, imagine standing in court having to say, "Yes your honour, I knew my car stopped without warning but I did nothing about it, I just kept using it".
It doesn't sound very good doe's it?

I would be asking MG to fix it or take the car back, or delete that that function from the software, and to drop that agent.

Trading Standards may also be interested.

Good Luck.

[Rolebama]

I have pursued computer problems from dealers to UK headquarters to manufacturers to designers and manufacturers of systems. All to no avail. For the simple reason everybody blames everybody else along the chain. The end result is to blame human error by the end-user.
My only advice, on top of what olduser says above, is, if you feel unsafe, reject the car.

[isitjustme]

Thanks for your replies and interesting comments. Recent legislation requires that virtually every new car sold in the UK is fitted with autonomous emergency braking. In most instances in the past safety equipment such as ABS was there to assist the driver. Autonomous Emergency Braking does not assist, it makes decisions and takes over control. Obviously, if it works as intended, it can save lives. But if it makes the wrong choices it could cost lives.


Picking up on the comment about a potential court appearance it opens up an interesting new line of defence. “It weren’t me M’lud, it’s me car wot done it!” It bring to mind the scene where John Cleese gives his car a good thrashing.

[olduser]

This thread prompted me to have a look on the internet, I amazed at what I found.
Most cars with this system fitted have this problem but the consensus appears to be, 'don't worry you'll get used to it!

If that is really the attitude of drivers, then may your God help you.
We are driving around in vehicles with crap systems, and dangerous crap systems at that, and all we can say is, ' we will get used to it!'
How about returning the car, or badgering officialdom until it gets sorted out?

Rant over my excuse is I have an awful cold, you had better put a mask on before you read anymore, and wash your hands after touching the keyboard.

[Rolebama]

I have, over the years, had to make split-second decisions, mostly on the M25, as to whether it is better to hit a fox, deer, or whatever, than cause a multi-car pile-up by hitting the brakes. 3am, no problem, brake and swerve, but 3pm, with tail-gating traffic across all lanes, goodbye wildlife. The real problem I see is that it does take a number of incidents before anything useful to road safety is done.
As an example, what effective measure has ever been taken to reduce tailgating?

[Drivingforfun]

I’ve wondered why insurance companies charge less to insure cars with these safety features. It can’t be a mistake put down to bureaucracy or other politics as insurance companies exist solely to make money - therefore they must, on average, reduce accidents - therefore they work *on average*?

I suppose insurance providers also know that many people drive while drunk or on the phone … I suppose if someone is distracted by their phone it’s safer to have a dodgy computer in charge than a dodgy human? 🤔

On topic though, mine hasn’t done an emergency stop but has tried to brake rather heavily for me one time before, for no reason. Also the collision warning often goes off when I’m on a narrow road, and it’s a VERY loud high-pitched beep which on one occasion made me jump and almost drive into the oncoming car that I wasn’t going to hit in the first place …..