More LKA related questions for 2023

Sparkland said:

I have a question about the Subaru safety system. The Kia system we had in our 2022 Sorento Hybrid was one of the best we have ever driven. I only mention this because I know the first response posts would be about how terrible the Kia/Hyundai safety systems are.

This photo is of a Hyundai Santa Cruz. The driver accidently clipped a tree on a narrow road and basically totaled out the vehicle. Would the Subaru system have prevented the vehicle from hitting the tree in the first place or does the object have to be directly in the line of sight of the center of the vehicle rather than off to the side in order to be recognized and avoided by the Ascent.

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Any Subaru with Eyesight would most likely have prevented the collision in your picture because it would have kept the vehicle inside the white line at the edge of the road, and it was a relatively straight road section.

Keep in mind that the greater the curve the less effective Eyesight becomes. The new version in our 23 Ascent is certainly smoother and more capable in curves than our 20 Outback, but the 23 also "gives up" in curves before our 20 does, and this is actually a good thing. The 20 will try to maintain the curve a little longer than it should, and then when it gives up the driver can be caught unaware if they're not paying attention. The 23 will disconnect in a gentler curve than the 20, but when it does it is much less abrupt than the 20 because the curve is gentler so it's easier for an inattentive driver to take over. Notice I'm specifically referring to inattentive drivers, because as others have mentioned Subaru's system is not fully autonomous, but a lot of people treat it like it is. It is an amazing system, but the driver does need to stay involved.

On the plus side, the 23 will lock on if engaged in a curve much quicker than our 20 does. The 23 also tracks much better when passing trucks in an adjacent lane.

We were hit on the side by a deer in our 20, and there isn't a system from any manufacturer that I know of that could have prevented that one. Our 20 did prevent rear-ending someone in front of us in a very low speed situation at a red light. My wife said it scared the crap out of her but worked as advertised. We have yet to test the RAB in our 23 other than on the test drive, and in that test it worked quite well.

Keep in mind that LKA keeps you in the lane, whereas pre-collision braking is what prevents you from hitting something in front of you. Going back to your picture, LKA would have kept the vehicle in the lane so there would be no reason to brake to avoid hitting the tree.

22 and older Subarus were supposed to reduce collision speed up to 30 (or was it 35?) mph, meaning if you approached a stopped vehicle at 60 you would impact at 30. Many 23 models are now capable of reducing overtake as much as 50mph, and can also steer around obstacles if there is room in an adjacent lane. So if you are approaching a stopped vehicle at 60mph in a 23 Ascent you will impact it at 10mph, or not at all if there is room in an adjacent lane for the vehicle to steer around it. To me this is pretty amazing technology that I hope to never use, but I'm glad that it's there.

When we bought our 20 our dealer had a monthly program where they would demonstrate Eyesight abilities to new owners. They had a bunch of us loaded up at an Ascent and approached an obstacle at 30mph. Sure enough the car came to a halt on it's own just short of the obstacle. I don't know if dealers are still doing that, but if they are it's a great opportunity to see what your vehicle can do. Just don't be like the guy on the internet who did an experiment like this using his wife as the obstacle, it didn't have a happy ending.

Regarding pedestrian avoiding technology: supposedly the 23 Ascent has this, but I haven't tested it. I do know that Waymo has very effective pedestrian avoiding technology and I have seen that in action several times.

Some people think they are smarter than the car and turn off LKA, PCB, RAB, and anything else they can turn off. If you do that you're on your own and have no one to blame but yourself if you hit that obstacle on the road.