- Jun 18, 2014
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorz...-being-confounded-by-car-washes/#39c20dca1450
According to the car-shopping site BestRide.com, fastidious motorists driving 14 different vehicle brands are finding that their rides can be rendered virtually immobilized at many automated car washes unless certain auto-braking systems can be disabled.
That’s because the sensors used for forward collision mitigation systems aren’t able to tell the difference between a solid wall and what the industry calls a “soft mitter curtain.” To an auto-braking system’s sensors, both are considered large and equally hazardous obstructions with which collisions must be avoided. Car wash operators are reporting instances where cars have become stuck in mid-wash by their vehicles’ auto-braking systems. Some, ironically in the act of preventing a crash, have actually jumped the car wash rails and inadvertently caused a collision with the vehicle directly rearward.
According to the car-shopping site BestRide.com, fastidious motorists driving 14 different vehicle brands are finding that their rides can be rendered virtually immobilized at many automated car washes unless certain auto-braking systems can be disabled.
That’s because the sensors used for forward collision mitigation systems aren’t able to tell the difference between a solid wall and what the industry calls a “soft mitter curtain.” To an auto-braking system’s sensors, both are considered large and equally hazardous obstructions with which collisions must be avoided. Car wash operators are reporting instances where cars have become stuck in mid-wash by their vehicles’ auto-braking systems. Some, ironically in the act of preventing a crash, have actually jumped the car wash rails and inadvertently caused a collision with the vehicle directly rearward.