VW says its Autonomous Braking worked flawlessly—so how’d I crash?

If you purchased an option on a new vehicle called Autonomous Emergency Braking, wouldn’t you expect it to intervene and try to prevent a collision?

I did.

But given Volkswagen’s we-assume-no-liability response to my assertion that their autonomous emergency braking system somehow failed (i.e., the car actually crashed), I’m sharing my story here.

Why here? Because I don’t have a Facebook account, and there are just too many words for a giant billboard. And while this might be a mental masturbation exercise, it feels somewhat cathartic.

I need a proper title for this story.

What about, “How the #2 global auto manufacturer is marketing autonomous driving features — and how one of those potentially life-saving features doesn’t work as advertised.”

Too long.

Or perhaps, “Is VW up to its old tricks of misleading the public?”

Better.

And so the story unfolds…

In June 2018, I purchased a shiny new Golf R from Volkswagen Victoria. Up until very recently, it hadn’t seen a scratch nor a door ding.

Then, around 4pm, on November 21, 2019, this happened:

Is this how autonomous braking is supposed to work?

That’s about $15,000 in damage from a relatively slow 25 km/h (~15 mph) impact.

Thankfully nobody was injured or killed… only a startled Acura MDX driver, a bruised ego, and the abrupt end to a 30-year accident-free streak.

One of the options I’d originally purchased with my Golf R is called Driver Assistance Package, a safety package that includes the following features:

• Blind Spot Monitor (love it!)
• Rear Traffic Alert (works every time)
• Lane Assist (a bit intrusive; I turn this off)
• Adaptive Cruise Control (meh)
• Front Assist — Autonomous Emergency Braking (cough, cough)

It’s that last feature — Autonomous Emergency Braking — that in retrospect, I wish would’ve functioned as promised on that sunny November 21st.

Here’s what happened:

I hit a vehicle from behind while performing a shoulder check, as we both merged onto a busy city street.

The driver directly in front began to accelerate into the oncoming lane (so I began to follow) but then stopped suddenly in the middle of the road as I was shoulder checking for oncoming traffic.

By the time I completed my safety check…

💥 BOOM!💥

… I rear-ended the Acura MDX. In the eyes of the other driver and my insurance company, it was case closed… 100% my fault.

And if I’d been driving a car without an autonomous emergency braking feature, I definitely wouldn’t be writing this post.

Autonomous: “Denoting or performed by a device capable of operating without direct human control.”

Sure, I am to blame for my error in judgment, but shouldn’t VW assume some responsibility here for the collision itself?

This is the question that came to mind the day after the accident, especially given how VW promotes the safety feature:

“If the system detects a hazard in front of your vehicle, it will alert you both audibly (with a chime) and visibly (with a small icon on the dashboard). The system also prepares the brakes for emergency braking, meaning it will take less time and power to slow your vehicle to a complete stop if you need to avoid a collision. If you don’t apply enough power to the brakes, the system can help to stop your vehicle automatically.”

The Insurance Corporation of BC (my insurance company) is now offering 10% discounts to drivers whose vehicles include collision avoidance.

Insurance companies are now rewarding customers because these safety features reduce the number of collision claims and save them a ton of money.

Customers are buying these features because they reduce the likelihood of an accident and potentially save lives (or so they’re told).

So I contacted VW Canada to open a case file.

Shortly thereafter, my car was towed from the collision repair shop to the local VW dealership for inspection. And two days later, I received a call from Karis, a VW Canada representative.

“Mr. Jones, we could find no error codes in the system that would cause the front assist to fail.”

Hold on there. The absence of error codes doesn’t mean the system is working perfectly. It just means that no components were detected as problematic or malfunctioning within that system.

It’d be unusual for companies to develop error codes to detect poorly designed systems. Apparently, as far as VW is concerned, the system worked as designed!

So I responded, “Okay, but it did fail. My car collided with the car in front of me under perfect conditions. That sounds like an automatic fail, doesn’t it?”

“I understand, sir, but if you read the owner’s manual, you’ll see that emergency braking maneuvers may disengage if you intervene using the steering wheel or accelerator pedal.”

Wait, who reads the owner’s manual before purchasing a car? The sales team isn’t handing them out as customers walk into the dealership (but perhaps they should). The marketing materials and salespeople are there to inform prospective owners about the various features and why you should consider paying for those features.

Secondly, a braking maneuver was never initiated by the system. (And VW isn’t claiming that it was initiated… so there was nothing for me to somehow interrupt.)

So I asked her, “What do you mean by ‘may disengage’? It never engaged to begin with.”

“It’s difficult for me to explain on the phone, but it’s all covered in the owner’s manual.”

Deep breaths…

I understand why VW engineers would design a driver-initiated override (e.g., turn the steering wheel or step on the accelerator) to handle unwanted autonomous braking maneuvers — for example, in the case where you speed up in your lane prior to passing the vehicle in front— but that is certainly not what happened here.

“If you had fallen asleep, it would have stopped you.”

“And how does my car know whether I’m asleep or performing a shoulder check? Hidden cameras?”

At that point it became clear I was speaking to a brick wall.

“We can have your car towed back to the repair shop at our expense. Thank you for letting us inspect it.”

Right.

I sat there awhile thinking about what just happened.

What should I do?

It’s a leased vehicle that’ll be repaired to original specifications (and I will be returning it). Nobody was injured. My driving record will not be impacted (much) due to accident forgiveness in my private insurance policy. My rental car is also covered by insurance. And I’m out $300 for collision deductible.

Not the worst day, right?

Sort of.

I believe VW (and other companies) should stop marketing this particular safety feature as Autonomous Emergency Braking. The word autonomous suggests that the system knows better than the driver — and that it can be counted on every time.

We expect these safety features to function properly every time:

• Airbags
• Anti-lock brakes
• Seat belts

We expect these new-ish safety features to function properly every time (good drivers will also perform “redundancy checks” using mirrors):

• Blind spot assist
• Rear obstacle alert

Autonomous systems are designed to work without human intervention. As such, we should be able to rely on them 100% of the time.

Because if an autonomous system doesn’t function as you’d expect under sunny and mild weather conditions… in a straightforward bumper-to-bumper collision… at below average city speeds… then when can you expect it to function as promised?

Volkswagen (and other manufacturers): If your system doesn’t work all the time, then don’t call it autonomous… or take responsibility and bear the costs for the drivers who are financially or physically affected by your system’s false positives and false negatives.

Dear reader: If you’re considering purchasing a vehicle with an autonomous emergency braking system / collision avoidance, just know what you’re buying (or not buying).

(Losing a customer is no biggie for a company like VW. But the beauty of platforms like Medium and social media is the potential amplification of one customer’s message. Thank you for reading!)