ACC auto speeding.

[Dugaleen]

Hi all. I live in Felixstowe so use the Orwell bridge to escape Suffolk quite often. The A14 has in the main a 70 mph limit but this is variable, normally 60 mph over the bridge. This morning the ACC dutifully slowed me to 60 only to then increase to 80 mph and then down to 70 when the 60 limit ended. Not a one off as this also occurred on the return journey. Could have been a nice Christmas fixed penalty. Have a merry one all. cheers Doug

[scratch113]

And this highlights everything that's wrong with the EU's plan to introduce mandatory speed limiters on all newly launched models from July next year. If the tech doesn't work accurately now, what hope is there of it being 100% accurate in only 6 months from now? And anything short of 100% accurate just isn't good enough.

Worse if it misreads the limit as 30mph when it's actually 70 and the car randomly slams on the anchors! Or if you buy any of the seriously fast electric cars around nowadays (Tesla Model S Plaid, etc.) and you're travelling in say a motorway roadworks at 40mph and it reads the speed limit on the back of a lorry that's marked in kph as 90. 0-60 in 2.1 seconds? 40-90 in about the same. Scary!

[Perchede]

I am sure it will always be possable to override and reduce the settings.
There does need to be modification to signage placement and better attention to placing speed limit end signs at end of any works.
I do see some change in behaviour in the Navagation versions. French speed bumps have a 30 limit bump sign but no end sign. The ACC used to presume the limit continued but it now resets to the correct limit after a short distance.

[RichR]

We’re in the first phase of cars reading traffic signs. Given that often signs are confusing to humans, there was no way it would be 100% for cars. This is why it is a Level 2 autonomy system - basically the driver is expected to be in full control, with the given assistance or suggestions. Level 3 (driver can trust car) is legal and possible in some places (some sections of Autobahn), but not everywhere.
Give it a few years for the systems to get better and perhaps road signs to get repositioned to be less ambiguous and we may be ready for Level 3.

[Perchede]

Totally agree RichR - The Enyaq has excellent assist systems but they are exactly that.
Regulations will evolve with technology.

[scratch113]

Totally agree RichR - The Enyaq has excellent assist systems but they are exactly that.
Regulations will evolve with technology.

But that's kind of the problem - the regulation arrives in just 6 months, but the technology clearly isn't ready, especially where cars like the Enyaq will slavishly follow what the car 'thinks' the speed limit is if you have ACC engaged. Yes, the driver can override the systems, but some of them are talking about having systems that will actively push back against your foot with the accelerator or start applying the brake if you are so much as 5% over the speed limit for more than about 20 or 30 seconds. Not great if the car has got it wrong.

And you might assume that with the Enyaq, you'll be exempt from this nannying over how fast you're driving as the systems aren't included yet. The regulation will say that it's only new models launched after July 2022 that have to have it included, but all new cars sold will have to have it 3 years later, even those launched prior to the original date. With OTA software updates becoming the norm, don't be surprised if wake up one morning and your car suddenly has a speed limiter included as part of a future software update. All the tech required is already included, so not beyond the realms of possibility. Then you'll be wishing it was closer to 100% accurate on what it thinks the speed limit actually is...

At the moment, I don't worry too much if my car displays the incorrect speed limit on the infotainment screen as I can just ignore it, safe in the knowledge that I know what the speed limit actually is because I've read the correct speed limit sign that actually applies to the road I'm on. Once you're pestered with an incessant bong or worse, even though you know the car is wrong, driving will get very tiresome very quickly!

[Dugaleen]

I accept that it could be misreading signs. But given that, all the speed warnings on Orwell bridge are matrix variable displays. So the first one reads OK and drops speed to 60 mph, but the next matrix display misreads as 80 mph. Is this reasonable as both signs are the same and only 2 years or so old.

[Goaty]

/\ they could avoid this with a little bit of coding so the system knows that when the car is in the UK, the legal speed limit will never be more than 70mph. This would avoid mis-reads of 60 as an 80.

you don’t get done. If you do, definitely let Skoda UK in Milton Keynes know about this problem (Skoda HQ)

[ChangoMutney]

I accept that it could be misreading signs. But given that, all the speed warnings on Orwell bridge are matrix variable displays. So the first one reads OK and drops speed to 60 mph, but the next matrix display misreads as 80 mph. Is this reasonable as both signs are the same and only 2 years or so old.

Maybe your car will have to go on a speed awareness course

[Goaty]

Just an additional thought with regards to the ACC system misreading 60 as 80, and then attempting to hit 80mph; how would the system cope the moment a driver from the UK arrives in France or Southern Ireland - where it’s absolutely going to see 80 signs (50mph) or even higher!!

I’d assume it should be intelligent enough to realise it’s in a kph country and adapt accordingly?

If that’s the case, then as I mentioned above, the ACC system needs to be coded to know that 70mph is the absolute maximum speed in the UK - so the ACC limit should never go beyond this (whilst in the UK).