Driver Assist Systems
These are Advanced Driver Assist System (ADAS) Indicator symbols. These images will appear in a vehicle’s information display in gray scale or yellow/amber/orange. It is either the image of a car inside two straight lines as well as curved lines radiating from the front and the rear corners of the car. It looks nearly boxed in. The first symbol in yellow/amber/orange has a letter P in a box with lines radiating from it in all directions. The system in this case is being used for park assistance, with the lines in the corners illuminating if an obstacle is detected. The last two lights in yellow/amber/orange and red each have an exclamation point in the image indicating a fault in the system.
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More Versions
These versions, called by the manufacturer Safety Support Indicators, is seen as a vehicle from above inside a circle, also in yellow/amber if one of the systems noted below is not functioning properly. The circle represents that the vehicle is protected all around from all sides. It may be seen in gray scale as well in the information display. The trouble may be as simple as snow and ice accumulated on or near the sonar sensors. In green, the system is up and running properly.
This version is also an outline of a car inside a circle, but appears in gray scale. The manufacturer in this case has the indicator appear when one of nearly a dozen assist system options is turned off. It is thus there to alert the driver to that fact.
This symbol is connected to a version called a Travel Assist System. It will be seen in green when activated, but will be seen in yellow/amber if a fault occurs. In this instance, the system will not engage or will be deactivated. If it is seen in gray scale, it is inactive, but not due to a fault. The system is lying in wait. When active, its primary function is maintain control of the vehicle in highway driving conditions as an advanced Adaptive Cruise Control System.
Finally, this image will be seen in green if the driver assist system is active, or in gray if the system has been interrupted. This is not likely a fault situation, but rather due to the application of the brakes or a sensor blocked by debris. The assist system may come back on its own if the sensors clear, but will need to be re-engaged if the brakes have been applied.
Any versions of the warning light will be accompanied by information on the status of a number of systems, depending on what the vehicle is equipped with. Park Assist, Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Lane Departure Prevention (LDP), Blind Spot Warning (BSW) and Blind Spot Intervention (BSI), Distance Control Assist (DCA), Forward Emergency Braking (FEB), and/or Predictive Forward Collision Warning (PFCW).
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
To Autopilot or Not to Autopilot, that Is the Question
Autopilot Risks
A recent accident involving a Tesla Model S with its Autopilot function engaged cost the life of the car’s driver. Since then, there have been calls to disable the function or as least rename it.
But the technology has not yet matured and it remains incumbent on motorists to remain alert and engaged. This goes for backing up with the assist of a camera and proximity sensors, changing lanes while a blind spot monitor is active, and certainly will remain the case with an autopilot engaged.
Nissan will reportedly enlist countermeasures to ensure that drivers remain alert as it rolls out its ProPilot system. A torque sensor on the steering column will determine whether a hand is in contact with the steering wheel. Moving from warning lights through beepers to system disengagement, ProPilot will require driver input, period.
We applaud this from a company that has frankly been irresponsible in its advertising of other driver assist systems.
Tesla cites the fact that in order to engage its Autopilot function, the vehicle operator must pass through and accept a warning that the system requires the driver’s attention. It is essentially the equivalent of reading a software license agreement, which we all skim at best, and is not enough.
Airline Pilots Get Confused Too
Pilot confusion with an engaged Autothrottle system was cited as the cause of the crash of Asiana Airlines flight 214 in San Francisco in July of 2013. Pilots with thousands of hours of experience and training still managed to fall on human error. Drivers will never be given training remotely equivalent to that of an airline pilot. Nissan has it right in this case.
To be completely fair, 100 people die on average every day on U.S. roadways and a single fatality after well over one million miles driven on Autopilot has everyone shouting to the rafters.
For the foreseeable future however, autonomous driving system designs need to keep the driver in his or her seat – unlike this early Tesla example from a year ago – as well as engaged in the driving process. It may defeat the spirit and purpose of autonomous operation from the driver’s perspective, but safety is the ultimate goal.
Perhaps as vehicles became more computerized, a second seat could be given the driving responsibility at times.
——————————————————————-
Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY