[Qinsp]

Chevy helps me dodge a bullet:

I was driving our 2017 Volt with all the Driver's safety trimmings this AM.

I'm on a 4 lane suburban road going 45mph in the left lane and traffic was moderate-heavy. I use the left lane here because there are cars parked on the street that can open their door into the right lane.

I approached an intersection with a green light, and there were about a dozen cars waiting in the left turn bay. As I approach the light, a Honda pulls out of the left turn bay rapidly without signaling right in front of me. I'd guess 6 car lengths perhaps?

The Frontal Collision Avoidance sees it before it registers with me. BEEP BEEP BEEP six bright red lights appear right on my windshield before the Honda is even blocking me. It gives me just enough time to hit the brakes while the Honda cuts right in front of me and goes into the right lane and nearly hits a car in the right lane.

If I would not have braked, or braked late, I would have nailed him pretty hard.

I've went down that road hundreds of times, and never seen anyone do that before. The left turn bay is commuters heading towards the freeway.

What amazed me was how little the Honda had moved before the warning system kicked in.

Nice going Chevy. That worked PERFECT in that situation.

 

[JoeReal]

The safety features are great especially with the 2nd gen.

 

[BAZINGA]

I still don't have the guts to test the FAB.......

 

[Qinsp]

I still don't have the guts to test the FAB.......

Neither do I. I've got pretty good reaction times and skills, and I don't get surprised very often.
This morning was a surprise. I do not know if I would have caught the Honda in time. It would have been close. If I had to guess? I'd say it would have a been a low speed collision without the red lights. There was nowhere to go, left or right.

EDIT - Coming back from Santa Barbara was the first time I saw the red HUD lights when somebody cut in front of me on the freeway. It might have added boost to the brakes, I'm not sure. I don't know if it added boost this morning either. I was not looking at the dash.

 

[rcuz]

Get a dashcam and report idiots like that. People are getting more and more stupid and more and more distracted.

Glad you are getting the best out of the technology, but sad that these features are becoming more and more necessary. Kinda makes me rethink buying the base model. Oh, well.

Best,
Rick

 

[Qinsp]

Get a dashcam and report idiots like that. People are getting more and more stupid and more and more distracted.

Glad you are getting the best out of the technology, but sad that these features are becoming more and more necessary. Kinda makes me rethink buying the base model. Oh, well.

Best,
Rick

Yup, dashcam is on the way. If I had hit the Honda, the driver could have claimed they were in the lane and I hit them from the rear. Only my word (or any witness who would sit around for the PD to arrive) against their's.

 

[firehawk72]

What is really sad is that these features are usually only "available" on the highest trim models. It is such a shame these features are not standard or "At the very least, an option to be added". Toyota is setting the bar pretty high with their latest offering of safety across the board. This will press these types of issues to forefront with each and every automaker going forward. For example, the Volt LT could be had with these features for just 1k more, but it isn't possible. You must first add 4k to get the premium and then you can add them for the additional 1k.

 

[firehawk72]

Yup, dashcam is on the way. If I had hit the Honda, the driver could have claimed they were in the lane and I hit them from the rear. Only my word (or any witness who would sit around for the PD to arrive) against their's.

Yep, I finally put them in both our cars as proof to help protect us from crazy lawsuits.

 

[caskConditionedAle]

I still don't have the guts to test the FAB.......

And I don't have the guts to test the airbags or seat belts. We'll just have to trust GM... ;^)

 

[alfon]

With our 2016 Volt LTZ a few times it has caught me off guard as well when traffic in front comes to a sudden halt and I am not paying 100% attention to my driving. Really wakes you up...

 

[16513]

The FCA is useful...and sensitive. Sometimes it is triggered on narrow roads in tight right turns. But erring on the safe side is good. Soon all new cars will be required to have this feature and probably auto braking, too. Rear enders on the freeway will be a thing of the past, I hope.

 

[llninja]

Just happy you got through the event unscathed. Given the number of miles I put on my car each year (60k miles in 3 years) I really should try to get a job where I can work from home and not drive at all.

 

[quirkySquirt]

Chevy really should allow these safety features on the LT trim. I would've bought just the FAB as that's the one thing I could justify the most. Blind spot and rear cross traffic alerts can all be taken care of with driving skill. Idiots like that Honda, that's purely on your reaction time. FCA and FAB can mitigate reaction time limitations.

 

[rand49er]

Good story. Glad it worked as advertised.

I still don't have the guts to test the FAB.......

Agreed. I'd like to stretch a large piece of paper out across our cul de sac street in front of the house where's there little traffic and give it try ... just to make sure it really works ... then I'd feel better.

 

[ClarksonCote]

Agreed. I'd like to stretch a large piece of paper out across our cul de sac street in front of the house where's there little traffic and give it try ... just to make sure it really works ... then I'd feel better.

Nice thought, I but think you'd end up flying right through the paper. Most of that sensor equipment relies on denser objects like metal etc. to get the returns to bounce back and measure distance properly. Then again, I don't know how much is still optical in the Gen 2 Volt, and that would probably work.

Fun experiment either way.

 

[Kraven]

Chevy really should allow these safety features on the LT trim. I would've bought just the FAB as that's the one thing I could justify the most. Blind spot and rear cross traffic alerts can all be taken care of with driving skill. Idiots like that Honda, that's purely on your reaction time. FCA and FAB can mitigate reaction time limitations.

On the Blind Spot and Rear Cross Traffic Alerts... I have actually found both useful in my one month of ownership so far. I count myself a reasonably skillful driver and on a freeway earlier this week I was merging on, making a lane change to the left while another vehicle was moving right from two lanes away and about one car length behind me moving faster than I as he had already been on the freeway. So we were moving towards the same spot in the middle lane between us and the blind spot monitor "saw" him before I did. I trusted the monitor and moved back in my lane. He also saw me and slowed. I sped up a little and resumed the lane change. I'm not saying this saved an accident, I would have seen him a fraction of a second later and he did see me as he was behind me moving up. I'm just saying it was nice to have it not be as close as it would have been.

On the rear traffic cross alert, that thing activates pretty reliably and I've seen it work with a pedestrian as well as cars. Like the BSM mentioned above, it sees these objects before you do and keeps you stopped where you are (if you haven't moved yet) or causes you to stop earlier. It removes close calls or actually prevents accidents. Pretty amazing.

I didn't buy the Volt for solely for these features (of course I thought they might be nice), but have come to appreciate them moreso in the real world.