Sudden acceleration in parking lots/accidently pressing the cruise control button

[Maquis]

Doesn’t it just suck when the car does exactly what you tell it to do? ?

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[ARK]

Sorry this happened, but I’d love to see a pic of how you hold the steering wheel, never hit any of the buttons accidentally like that. Are you using your palm to turn the wheel?

 

[Maquis]

Sorry this happened, but I’d love to see a pic of how you hold the steering wheel, never hit any of the buttons accidentally like that. Are you using your palm to turn the wheel?

Next, you’re going to tell me that the way I was taught to hold the steering wheel in driver’s-ed really is correct! ??

 

[tfitzgex]

I prefer a single press to activate the cruise control. Have never had it attempt to activate at slow speeds or a parking lot. In fact, I don't think cruise control can activate at parking lot speeds?

It can if it remembers the last speed limit sign. I tried it again after parking/shut off car/turn it back on... nada, the speed limit sign was blank, as it should have been.

 

[tfitzgex]

Sorry this happened, but I’d love to see a pic of how you hold the steering wheel, never hit any of the buttons accidentally like that. Are you using your palm to turn the wheel?

interesting, I've never thought about how I hold the wheel, when I'm doing slow turns like that it is usually left hand dominated.

 

[RickMachE]

It has nothing to do with knowing the speed limit, and everything to do with having just used cruise control. If I'm on the highway with my non-intelligent cruise car, and have the cruise set on 70, and I get off the highway and pull into a parking lot, and then hit Resume, the car will accelerate to 70.

If I turn off cruise, then I can't accidentally resume without turning it back on and hitting resume.

 

[SnBGC]

It can if it remembers the last speed limit sign. I tried it again after parking/shut off car/turn it back on... nada, the speed limit sign was blank, as it should have been.

Oh I see. You are using ICC and it still thinks it is on a surface street instead of a more confined parking lot? And it is actually turned off vs paused? Then accidentally hitting that button might activate ICC even at very slow speeds?

I was going to say that it still shouldn't do that because your foot should be on the brake at slower speeds in a parking lot bit then I forgot about those folks who use 1PD.

Yeah, that does sound like a programming flaw. Maybe a double press to activate at slow speeds might be a sensible solution....

 

[RedStallion]

I think Ford needs an emergency voice control. The car hearing a keyword makes emergency braking. The key word should be customizable, some people would prefer "no-no-no", others may be more comfortable with "sh!t", or another 4 letter word. That will solve most of the problems.

 

[Tony B]

I think Ford needs an emergency voice control. The car hearing a keyword makes emergency braking. The key word should be customizable, some people would prefer "no-no-no", others may be more comfortable with "sh!t", or another 4 letter word. That will solve most of the problems.

 

[Jimrpa]

I'm probably not the only one who has experienced this. You are in a parking lot, trying to park. You are turning the wheel and accidently hit the cruise control button. If you have it set to intelligent cruise control, and it knows the speed limit, it instantly tries to get to that speed. you have to hit the brakes quickly or smack into whatever is in front of you.


Tesla you have to pull their lever 2x to engage the autopilot. I would love to see either a long press, or a double tap to activate it.

BlueCruise is NOT equivalent to Tesla AutoPilot. There’s no insinuation on Ford’s part that you’re consciously relinquishing responsibility for safely operating the vehicle to a computer graphics card/gaming rig.

 

[Jimrpa]

I'm in a parking lot (my parking lot) where there are no speed signs. It is remembered from last sighting or whatever. It happened to me today as I was flipping it around to back in to my spot. There is no way I was going fast. I notice when I use it in stop and go traffic, if I have stopped, and it isn't going to automatically go, all I have to do is press on the pedal a little and bam, I'm headed towards the last posted speed.

So, you want to eliminate a design feature (the ability to resume BlueCruise by tapping the resume button) because of the possibility of operator error? ?

 

[Jimrpa]

Oh I see. You are using ICC and it still thinks it is on a surface street instead of a more confined parking lot? And it is actually turned off vs paused? Then accidentally hitting drithat button might activate ICC even at very slow speeds?

I was going to say that it still shouldn't do that because your foot should be on the brake at slower speeds in a parking lot bit then I forgot about those folks who use 1PD.

Yeah, that does sound like a programming flaw. Maybe a double press to activate at slow speeds might be a sensible solution....

I’d like to see someone replicate those steps:

1. Drive on the highway
2. Engage BlueCruise
3. Pass a sign so the speed limit is recognized
4. Exit the highway WITHOUT turning off BlueCruise at any point (tapping on the brake pedal should be enough to disengage it)
5. Proceed to a parking lot away from a BlueZone
6. Bring the car to a complete stop in the parking lot, but do not disengage BlueCruise
7. Turn off the car
8. Exit the car and walk out of BlueTooth range for about 5 minutes
9. Return to the car
10. Turn the car on
11. Begin moving very slowly (<5 or 10 mph)
12. Tap the button to resume BlueCruise
13. If nothing out of the ordinary happens, tap the button to turn on/off BlueCruise
14. Report back the vehicle behavior after 12 and 13 above

The vehicle should do nothing after either step 12 or 13, except after 14, it may display the BlueCruise ready icon (and I don’t think it would even do that - the speed is too low).

 

[frontrunner]

agreed, I guess it is because I've got meaty hands, and grab the wheel wrong

That would explain why I haven't had this problem, with my un-manly, dainty, lady-like hands LOL

 

[NewGuy]

Next, you’re going to tell me that the way I was taught to hold the steering wheel in driver’s-ed really is correct! ??

Unless you’ve taken driver’s ed in the last 8-9 years, the way you were taught is probably now considered incorrect.

 

[kltye]

My girlfriend and I have had this happen several times when we first got the car, usually when maneuvering to park. The button is large, close to the edge of the steering wheel, and doesn't require a lot of force to push.

When designing touch interfaces for tablets/phones, "accidental activations" along the bezel of the device like this is considered a bug, not a feature. I'm not saying we couldn't be more careful using the steering wheel and/or it's something we can't get used to, but we both have over 50 years driving experience between the both of us, and we've had lots of cars in the interim. Never had an issue like this. Fortunately I suppose we've both "gotten used to it" (another terrible thing to hear from users), since I haven't had an episode like this in a while.

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