Driving behind an annoying Lightning

[RickLightning]

Agreed. I think every vehicle that brakes (friction or regen) without the driver actually pressing the brake pedal should indicate to the driver when the brake lights are actually on.

Disagree. People are too stupid. They would say "why is my brake light on on my dash, I'm not pushing on the brake pedal!"

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[FirstF150InCasco]

Yesterday I was behind another Lightning and his brake light was constantly on/off/on/off ...... We were on the highway in moderate traffic. Not a stop and go situation but a 50-60 mph with normal slowing for entering and exiting drivers. The brake light was just on and off every few seconds. I'm guessing one pedal mode with full release and then back on, over and over again. I was glancing at mine in the mirror and it was not doing it.

So, bottom line, is this caused by (A) single pedal mode or (B) hands-free cruise control or (C) something else?

 

[Bwanapete]

I would appreciate having my dashboard or screen tell me when my brake lights are on. My 2017 Tesla MS does this.

 

[Skidrowe]

I've been enjoying blue cruise for my 25-mile work commute lately and I can say that there are many circumstances at the speed you mentioned where it seems to be on and off the brakes/regen. Whenever anyone merges into fairly large following distance between it and the car in front of me, it brakes pretty hard. When they merge out from in front of me, it accelerates hard to and then brakes just as quickly when it closes the gap with the next car. When the traffic becomes stop and go and the car in front of me creeps a little before or after a full stop, the truck will brake/accelerate rapidly back and forth causing a jerky ride. So it could have definitely been blue cruise if cars were merging in and out of traffic.

While I'm here pointing out the shortcomings of Blue Cruise, it also doesn't seem to identify stopped traffic ahead when traveling at high speeds. About the time it decides to brake, it also flashes the collision warning to me and I actually have to brake harder than Blue Cruise is doing. So now I disable it when I see full speed traffic has come to a stop ahead of me.

It also loves to hug the right side of the lane. Sometimes when it gets beside a car that's hugging the left side of their lane, it will give a little room and then just as I'm about to pass them, it dives back to the right line. I'm sure other drivers love how I appear to be taunting them as I pass and swerve towards their front wheel.

It seems to have no clue how to navigate a corner. It really just seems to bounce off the right side line. I wrote an algorithm in a robotics class in college for a car to traverse a maze and it worked about the same. Keep correcting to the left every time it hit a wall on the right and it would eventually move through the maze. I would think that with the additional sensors that Ford could do better in a turn than just bouncing off the side. This also results in it entering corners on bad lines without adjusting the speed for the turn.

Even with all the problems, my work commute is on a freeway without many turns and most of them are big enough that the truck handles them with acceptable results. It remains in its lane and other than traffic stopping completely from 70+mph, it safely handles distance and spacing. So I'm enjoying using it now that I have built some trust in it and can stop panicking every time it swerves towards the right side of the lane.

 

[Lytning]

I had an aunt that drove that way, two feet and alternating gas and brake. If I didn’t need the ride I would have walked.

I call them "digital" drivers ... go or stop / gas or brake / on or off / 0 or 1 ... since they have no "analog" coast.

 

[Warp Asylum]

While I'm here pointing out the shortcomings of Blue Cruise,
...

Snipped it out for brevity, but I can say that BC1.2 in the Mach-E significantly improves these issues. Lane centering stays locked in quite well, and in-lane repositioning moves you away from vehicles in the next lane, among other improvements. Fingers crossed that Ford will update all the BC1.0 vehicles out there.

 

[Skidrowe]

Snipped it out for brevity, but I can say that BC1.2 in the Mach-E significantly improves these issues. Lane centering stays locked in quite well, and in-lane repositioning moves you away from vehicles in the next lane, among other improvements. Fingers crossed that Ford will update all the BC1.0 vehicles out there.

I'm excited to get that update once it's tuned for the Lightning's size, dimensions, and braking/accelerating variables.

 

[Adventureboy]

Agree it would be nice to have an indicator when the brake light turns on. It will allow us to fine-tune our pedal action. In the meantime, I've watched mine at night (since you can see it then) and gentle regen does not turn it on. Mid to full regen definitely does. I've had a few cases where adaptive cruise control does funky things in stop/go traffic where it speeds up aggressively and then brakes repeatedly. I've turned it off when it can't get it straight. Other than that, the brake lights operate pretty much as I would expect.

 

[Whitewater64]

Agreed. I think every vehicle that brakes (friction or regen) without the driver actually pressing the brake pedal should indicate to the driver when the brake lights are actually on.

Ooohhh... Remember the two tiny red lights in the console above the center front of "FANCY" cars like Caddys and Oldsmobile 98s the lit up to show the driver his/her brake lights? Think they even blinked with the turn signal. My family couldn't afford one of those cars (look how far I've come with my $90k pick-m-up!), but I remember thinking how cool that was! They also had "map lights", which was so amazing. We had a flashlight on the glove compartment for night-time reading of the paper maps from the Standard Oil station. And no seat belts.

 

[Amps]

Remember the two tiny red lights in the console above the center front of "FANCY" cars like Caddys and Oldsmobile 98s the lit up to show the driver his/her brake lights? Think they even blinked with the turn signal. My family couldn't afford one of those cars (look how far I've come with my $90k pick-m-up!), but I remember thinking how cool that was!

Funny. I thought of those things this morning. "Vigilites"

My got-rocks-rich dad had 'em on a beautiful rattlecan primer gray Olds 98 Sedan DeLuxe he bought used in the 80s. It had every feature known to mankind--mostly broken. Those fender mounted 'lights' were GM's effort to find a use for optical fiber. Look at optical fiber now! All grown up and part of almost everything we do.

 

[Whitewater64]

Funny. I thought of those things this morning. "Vigilites"

My got-rocks-rich dad had 'em on a beautiful rattlecan primer gray Olds 98 Sedan DeLuxe he bought used in the 80s. It had every feature known to mankind--mostly broken. Those fender mounted 'lights' were GM's effort to find a use for optical fiber. Look at optical fiber now! All grown up and part of almost everything we do.

I forgot about the fender mounted ones. Those were cool too. I'm talking about the little red diodes mounted inside the car. My husband corrected me - they were mounted in the center of the headliner over the back window so the driver could see them in the rear view mirror.

 

[GoronsRock02]

I once rode on the highway with guy who couldn’t hold his foot steady. He would let off the pedal, the speed would drop 10 mph or so, then he’d accelerate back up. On repeat at about 10-15 second intervals. It drove me freaking nuts.

LOL. Those people drive me crazy. That is what cruise control is for. Or just pick another car to cruise with (not in their blind spot or right beside them off course). If I see the same person pass me more than twice I get in front of them when they slow behind me again because I feel like they probably just need a pace car.

 

[TheWoo]

Snipped it out for brevity, but I can say that BC1.2 in the Mach-E significantly improves these issues. Lane centering stays locked in quite well, and in-lane repositioning moves you away from vehicles in the next lane, among other improvements. Fingers crossed that Ford will update all the BC1.0 vehicles out there.

I cannot wait for 1.2. I love BC (it works well here in Kansas on the interstate - flattish, straightish roads are its friend) as-is, but lane-change, lane-bias, and better cornering will address the vast majority of current flaws.

 

[Maquis]

LOL. Those people drive me crazy. That is what cruise control is for. Or just pick another car to cruise with (not in their blind spot or right beside them off course). If I see the same person pass me more than twice I get in front of them when they slow behind me again because I feel like they probably just need a pace car.

This experience was back when most cars didn’t have cruise control. But still no excuse for driving like that.

 

[ChrisC]

I put my dogs in the bed of the truck and will occasionally worry about one falling out (they are tethered but a little crazy) so I put the tow camera on the screen and I will see the brake lights light up at night when the regen is on (I keep the one peddle feature on) and the truck is slowing down. That is one way to observe if the brake lights are on.

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