Disadvantages of autonomous emergency braking

Autonomous emergency braking is one of the most advanced safety features that you can get in vehicles today. It uses radar technology in order to determine if you’re on a collision course with an object on the road and it applies the brakes if the system senses that the driver isn’t reacting to the obstacle in front.

While this may seem like an amazing piece of technology that will not allow you to get into a frontal collision, it’s got some drawbacks, which we will explain in this list. 

If you frequent driving in the city a lot or you always hit traffic, having an autonomous emergency braking system will beep a little more than you expect. Because the system is designed to notify the driver and then act, there is a big chance that the system will trip constantly when met with close proximity driving. 

Of course, there are quite a handful of systems that are not as sensitive, as is the case with the Ford Ranger. However, there are systems that are slightly more sensitive than we’d like, usually tripping while crawling in traffic and alerting the driver even though he or she is paying attention. 

On the other hand, the system does well on the highway without traffic or any instance without seeing the bug on someone’s rear windshield. These systems were developed with fewer stoppages in mind, so at least in the Philippines, you may find it a bit of a nuisance beeping all the time and the like. 

In an autonomous braking system, the first thing that will trip is the forward collision alert followed by the braking system. Usually, the brakes come on at the last second before contact is made with the incoming object. This results in a rather abrupt stop which could shake up the cabin or give your passengers a bit of a fright. 

The con for this is that the driver at the back may not have an autonomous braking system, or the reflexes necessary to stop in time. While you won’t get the full-frontal, you could get rear-ended given the right circumstances. 

So let’s say that you’re annoyed with the system and disarm it. In order to retain the safety net that the system provides, you need to reactivate it once again. A light in the dashboard will shine a bright orange to let you know that it’s off. For some people, it’ll be a bit of a nuisance to have a bright orange light shining on your gauge cluster. 

The bright light is the car’s way of telling you that you’re unsafe. To get rid of it, you need to either tap or hold down the button, which takes time. We’ve seen some drivers turn off the system throughout their entire drive. Cars without an autonomous braking system won’t have a flashing light on the gauge cluster. 

Even if you’re willing to deal with all the cons of an autonomous braking system, the fact of the matter is that it is an autonomous braking system may only be found on the top-of-the-line models save for a few exceptions.

If you’re eyeing this particular feature, you may want to extend your budget a little bit. Check the specs of the variant you’re looking for on top of making sure that the model or nameplate you’re eyeing will actually have the feature available to you.