Park Assist tried to run me into a car

[StuartV]

I got my new 1500 yesterday.

Today, I read the owner's manual for how to use the Park Assist and then tried to use it when I just went to the grocery store. I can park my truck just fine, but I wanted to see how the PA works.

So, I'm driving down an aisle at the grocery store. Parking is perpendicular and on my right. So, I hit the PA button, then pressed OK on the wheel to switch it from Parallel to Perpendicular parking. I was creeping along going forward until it said something like parking space found. I stopped. It said to let go of the wheel and put the truck in reverse, which I did. It cut the wheel hard and I started backing up. It looked like it was trying to put me into a space between 2 cars that were off my right rear quarter - except that there was a minivan parked in between those 2 cars! In other words, there was not an empty space there. I wasn't sure, so I kept backing up slowly. When I was about 2 feet from hitting the minivan, I finally stopped and took over manual control.

It was dark out, but not raining or anything, though it did rain hard a couple of hours earlier. All of which is just my way of saying I don't think "conditions" contributed to what happened.

Is this a known issue with Park Assist?

 

[dandar]

I tried it on a busy parking lot and it parked me perfectly between lanes. Lots of beeping from the park assist sensors is annoying though. They should mute them when it's self parking.

 

[StuartV]

I'm definitely going to try it some more. If it normally works well, I could see it being handy sometimes. Like, trying to parallel park in a tight space in a busy area (like downtown DC...).

I can see why they would leave the park sensors on, though. I don't know about you, but they might save me from backing up too far and bumping into something. LOL

"Why is that thing beeping?!" [looks in other side mirror] "OOooohh!!"

 

[dandar]

"Why is that thing beeping?!" [looks in other side mirror] "OOooohh!!"

That's the problem with self parking though. You're already monitoring it and have 360 cam on, sideview mirrrors tilted down, you know you're close to other vehicles and the ram is self driving. The beeping from corner sensors at that point is just a distraction. Truck should self stop and tell you to switch to drive.

 

[ppowell1983]

The first time I used it to play with it, I thought it was going to back into a trail blazer. I quit before it did... I’m not sure FCA would cover the damage if the parking assist backs into a car.


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[StuartV]

I turned off the auto-mirror-tilt thing. It was turning them down so far I could see the ground beside the truck, but I couldn't see what was behind me. When backing in really close to something, I want to be able to see in the side mirror that there is at least some tiny amount of gap between the side of my truck and whatever it is.

I've never had a 360 cam before. Maybe i'll learn to use and trust it for that.... Someday...

 

[StuartV]

The first time I used it to play with it, I thought it was going to back into a trail blazer. I quit before it did... I’m not sure FCA would cover the damage if the parking assist backs into a car.


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I'm pretty sure they would not. The manual is pretty explicit about "you are in control of the vehicle". That's why they steer but you have to change gears and work the gas and brakes.

 

[DraKhen99]

I used PA to park perpendicularly one day ... it did a 5-point turn to get into the spot. I could've done it faster myself. It's quite handy for parallel parking, though. Also, it has yet to try hitting something.

My 2015 F-150 before this had PA, and it ran over the rounded curb in front of my house 3 times trying to park. I gave up on it for a while and then tried again, and it worked. I'm pretty sure it was learning.

IIRC, the owner's manual says the PA system learns as you drive, so more miles = more accurate parking.

-John

 

[Snakes709]

The way i see it, if you need PA to park for you, you shouldnt have a license. I brought a limited for a test drive and tried the parallel park assist. It did fine, i still dont trust it and told them i didnt want that **** in the truck i bought. 20 years from now, kids wont be able to parallel park or do anything for themselves. Hell, barely anyone knows how to drive stick anymore.

 

[DraKhen99]

The way i see it, if you need PA to park for you, you shouldnt have a license. I brought a limited for a test drive and tried the parallel park assist. It did fine, i still dont trust it and told them i didnt want that **** in the truck i bought. 20 years from now, kids wont be able to parallel park or do anything for themselves. Hell, barely anyone knows how to drive stick anymore.

Here we go again! I agree with you - one should be able to parallel park themselves. That said, I find it to be a nice feature, and use it almost daily. It helps make sure no loud, expensive noises happen, and I'm ok with that.

-John

 

[StuartV]

Here we go again! I agree with you - one should be able to parallel park themselves. That said, I find it to be a nice feature, and use it almost daily. It helps make sure no loud, expensive noises happen, and I'm ok with that.

-John

Meh. No point in trying to convince someone on the Internet to not be grumpy. ;-)

I can park just fine. But, I like tech toys and I want to know how to use everything that came on my truck - and for it to work like it's supposed to - whether I plan on using it "for real" or not.

 

[Diamondback]

I remember waaaay back when I was getting my license, you had to parallel and perpendicular park to pass

The Driver's Ed. Instructor gave you little hints when backing up when to start turning your wheel -- has stuck with me my whole life .. just like seeing some PSA about turning your mirrors outwards like 3* .. I have always done that -- it helps eliminate blinds spots (not get rid of them, but help see better). When I have a truck and the spots are not lengthened to accommodate, I just pop-up over the curb and drop right into place

 

[Snakes709]

I remember waaaay back when I was getting my license, you had to parallel and perpendicular park to pass

The Driver's Ed. Instructor gave you little hints when backing up when to start turning your wheel -- has stuck with me my whole life .. just like seeing some PSA about turning your mirrors outwards like 3* .. I have always done that -- it helps eliminate blinds spots (not get rid of them, but help see better). When I have a truck and the spots are not lengthened to accommodate, I just pop-up over the curb and drop right into place

I had to parallell a semi with a 53’ trailer on my class 1 course. Once you do that, you are golden.

Also parking a disabled tank with the arv (recovery vehicle) when you cant see it and rely on ground guides is pretty intense. Especially when you barely have enough room to maneuver.

 

[Diamondback]

I couldn't even go forward with that let alone backwards

I can tear up some cones during reverse drivers' training locally, though .. "You're drifting" .. "I'm pretending I'm in Tokyo in a movie in a Ricer" .. instructor didn't think it was as funny as I did LOL

 

[DraKhen99]

Meh. No point in trying to convince someone on the Internet to not be grumpy. ;-)

I can park just fine. But, I like tech toys and I want to know how to use everything that came on my truck - and for it to work like it's supposed to - whether I plan on using it "for real" or not.

Absolutely right, on all accounts!

I love me some tech toys - they're great when they work. As I mentioned before, put some miles on the truck and try it out a few times in practice situations, see if it gets better.

Also, get off my lawn!

-John

 

[StuartV]

So now, my Adaptive Cruise Control has also tried to run me into several cars.

3 times, I have pulled out from somewhere, pressed Resume on the ACC, and while it was still accelerating up to speed, come up behind a car stopped at a light. 3 times, I have waited and waited and eventually done near-emergency braking to get it stopped before plowing into the back of the stopped car. A 4th time, I was going along, with ACC set at 55 (so, not still doing its initial acceleration to get up to the set speed), I think, and came up to a light with a car stopped and again had to jam on brakes at the last second to keep from plowing into the car.

It almost seems like the ACC doesn't track stopped cars when I'm moving.

If I'm following a (moving) car and it stops, the ACC has been 100% on stopping me behind that car.

I realize that this may sound to some like I'm driving like an idiot, trying to let the ACC do too much thinking for me. Well... you are entitled to your opinion. But, what I am doing is trying to learn how it works. What things seem reliable and trustworthy and what things I should not trust it to do for me. Testing it, basically.

I have 460 miles on the truck. What I read in some other thread about the truck "learning" said (I thought) that it might take 30 miles or something like that to "learn". I would think it has learned all it needs to about its onboard radar (or whatever tech it actually uses) by now.

 

[saxapl]

So now, my Adaptive Cruise Control has also tried to run me into several cars.

3 times, I have pulled out from somewhere, pressed Resume on the ACC, and while it was still accelerating up to speed, come up behind a car stopped at a light. 3 times, I have waited and waited and eventually done near-emergency braking to get it stopped before plowing into the back of the stopped car. A 4th time, I was going along, with ACC set at 55 (so, not still doing its initial acceleration to get up to the set speed), I think, and came up to a light with a car stopped and again had to jam on brakes at the last second to keep from plowing into the car.

It almost seems like the ACC doesn't track stopped cars when I'm moving.

If I'm following a (moving) car and it stops, the ACC has been 100% on stopping me behind that car.

I realize that this may sound to some like I'm driving like an idiot, trying to let the ACC do too much thinking for me. Well... you are entitled to your opinion. But, what I am doing is trying to learn how it works. What things seem reliable and trustworthy and what things I should not trust it to do for me. Testing it, basically.

I have 460 miles on the truck. What I read in some other thread about the truck "learning" said (I thought) that it might take 30 miles or something like that to "learn". I would think it has learned all it needs to about its onboard radar (or whatever tech it actually uses) by now.

Christine? She was a Plymouth, I think, but close enough.

 

[jdmartin]

The way i see it, if you need PA to park for you, you shouldnt have a license. I brought a limited for a test drive and tried the parallel park assist. It did fine, i still dont trust it and told them i didnt want that **** in the truck i bought. 20 years from now, kids wont be able to parallel park or do anything for themselves. Hell, barely anyone knows how to drive stick anymore.

Man, ain't that the truth. By the time we get through another generation someone will have to massage their bottoms to get them to drop a deuce

As for driving a manual, that's one thing I dig - virtually no one can drive my cars anymore. The Ram is my only automatic (my wife drives an auto too). My Kia and my Miata are sticks. I couldn't find it, but there's a funny video I saw once of a guy trying to carjack someone in the middle of the street, lurches the car two or three times before jumping back out and running off (stick, of course).

 

[Snakes709]

Man, ain't that the truth. By the time we get through another generation someone will have to massage their bottoms to get them to drop a deuce

As for driving a manual, that's one thing I dig - virtually no one can drive my cars anymore. The Ram is my only automatic (my wife drives an auto too). My Kia and my Miata are sticks. I couldn't find it, but there's a funny video I saw once of a guy trying to carjack someone in the middle of the street, lurches the car two or three times before jumping back out and running off (stick, of course).

I think i saw that video. It really is the best theft device. I just really hate technology driving for me. Standard cruise control is the most tech i want controlling my truck.

 

[DraKhen99]

I think i saw that video. It really is the best theft device. I just really hate technology driving for me. Standard cruise control is the most tech i want controlling my truck.

A few years I would've agreed with you. With the increase in traffic in my area, and a new commute, I'll take the truck doing the lion's share of my commuting. ACC has been a stress reliever.

On the weekends, and some mornings when traffic is light, I'll take over and do all the driving. Also, whenever I can get out on my motorcycles, I of course am doing all the work there, and it's a lot of fun.

-John