[Lifterguy]

My Niro PHEV has Rear Cross Traffic alert. When I took delivery of the car, RCTA was enabled in the User Settings/Driving Assist menu. As the owners manual notes, the system only operates when the shift lever is in reverse and the car is going less than 6.2 MPH. The manual also says that when the car is turned off, the system will remember the last setting upon restart. But then it adds this line: "Always turn the RCTA system off when not in use." (Page 6-70 of the manual.)
So do they really expect me to keep this turned off, and then when I need to back up in a parking lot, scroll through the Driving Assist menu and turn it on? This doesn't really make any sense - considering that they system is automatically off except for when the car is in reverse.
Does anyone else who has this feature keep it turned off in the Driving Assist menu?

 

[lafe005]

Hi lifterguy, No i do not, always on

 

[yticolev]

No dedicated dash button? Say next to the traction control button (used for the first time today on a muddy uphill) and the LKAS buttons?

 

[deltasmith]

I don't have any special insight into the technology, but I always leave mine configured to come on when needed, and I've already appreciated it on one occasion (an idiot driving over 30 MPH in a cramped parking lot while I was backing up and wasn't yet out far enough to see side traffic). I choose to interpret the manual this way: "it turns itself off most of the time, and turns itself on when you are in reverse and going less than 6.2 MPH. If you have some occasion to put the car in reverse for a really long time, you might want to turn it off via programming." I don't know why they suggest turning it off when not in use, maybe it heats up or something if you have it on for an extended period. But how often do you find a reason to sit with your car in reverse for more than a minute or two at a time?

 

[Roadkill401]

I just make sure I reverse into parking spots. The theory I have is that from an insurance point of view, if you are reversing out, then it really doesn't matter what the other side was doing, you are at fault. You could be 90% of the way out of the parting spot and the other car decided to t-bone you, you are at fault. But if you are in Drive and going forward, then the actual rules of the road apply. Or at least that is the way it works here in Ontario.

 

[yticolev]

Why would t-boning a car backing out or going forward change the liability? If someone slams in to the side of your car in a parking lot, they must be at fault.

Personally, I never back into spots in a lot. Waste of my time (and fuel) and others in a busy parking lot waiting to get by a slow back in parker (speaking generally, not you or me). Some lots even post signs saying front in parking only. You used to be able to make a safety argument about visibility backing out of a parking space and hitting kids, but that is now moot with backup cameras mandated by law.

 

[Roadkill401]

Why would t-boning a car backing out or going forward change the liability? If someone slams in to the side of your car in a parking lot, they must be at fault.

Personally, I never back into spots in a lot. Waste of my time (and fuel) and others in a busy parking lot waiting to get by a slow back in parker (speaking generally, not you or me). Some lots even post signs saying front in parking only. You used to be able to make a safety argument about visibility backing out of a parking space and hitting kids, but that is now moot with backup cameras mandated by law.

I did not say it was logical, just that is what the insurance rules are here in Ontario. Once you get 'dinnged' by the rules, you are concoius about them. Like I hit by a car who ran a red light and the insurance clamed I was partially at fault as I said I saw them coming down the road and they were not breaking but there wasn't anything I could do. They said that if I saw them, then it was my responsability to break to avoid the accident.

 

[eddarrah]

My Niro PHEV has Rear Cross Traffic alert. When I took delivery of the car, RCTA was enabled in the User Settings/Driving Assist menu. As the owners manual notes, the system only operates when the shift lever is in reverse and the car is going less than 6.2 MPH. The manual also says that when the car is turned off, the system will remember the last setting upon restart. But then it adds this line: "Always turn the RCTA system off when not in use." (Page 6-70 of the manual.)
So do they really expect me to keep this turned off, and then when I need to back up in a parking lot, scroll through the Driving Assist menu and turn it on? This doesn't really make any sense - considering that they system is automatically off except for when the car is in reverse.
Does anyone else who has this feature keep it turned off in the Driving Assist menu?

2017 Niro EX HEV not PHEV here, and RCTA can be disabled but when it's ON it's always ON

 

[Jason Carmichael]

Backing in or Backing out, there is no difference in time savings.

Backing in makes it safer driving out, far more visibility. Most Asian countries backing in is the norm.

 

[dsh72]

I always back in and wouldn't say the rear camera for the Niro is not great by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Lifterguy]

No dedicated dash button? Say next to the traction control button (used for the first time today on a muddy uphill) and the LKAS buttons?

Exactly - Lane Keep Assist and Blind Spot monitoring have dedicated buttons on the dash (along with the button to temporarily disable ESC). You would think if they really wanted you to only turn on the cross traffic alert when using it, they would provide a button.

 

[yticolev]

Backing in or Backing out, there is no difference in time savings.

Backing in makes it safer driving out, far more visibility. Most Asian countries backing in is the norm.

You can do whatever you like, but your bias is showing. Is backing in a tight spot easier than into a wide area? Is it faster? The facts are clear and in addition your habits are in the minority in the US - drive around any large parking lot and see how many cars are which way.

Whether forward view is safer in modern cars in parking lots is up for debate. To see cross traffic in a parking lot while backing up, I only need to be an or so inch past adjacent cars with the wide angle backup camera to see everything. Leaving a parking space going forward, my eyes need to be one inch past the adjacent cars. That means my entire hood and part of the windshield has to be in the traffic lane. How can you see a toddler walking close by the adjacent parked cars? You cannot going forward (might be a good idea to have a forward mounted camera on the front bumper.

Good to know about Asian countries I suppose.

 

[jmurphEV]

You can do whatever you like, but your bias is showing. Is backing in a tight spot easier than into a wide area? Is it faster? The facts are clear and in addition your habits are in the minority in the US - drive around any large parking lot and see how many cars are which way.

In my experience, it comes down to vehicle size. If I'm driving the Niro or the Golf, I pull straight in. If I'm driving my Ram pickup, I tend to back in. You are correct that in a passenger car you only need to back up a little bit before you can see cross traffic pretty well. By comparison in a pickup or large SUV you have to back out pretty far before you can see anything. Plus, with a longer wheelbase, backing up into a spot is often easier than pulling in forward. The rear wheels have a smaller turning circle than the front which makes it easier to back in to a tight spot.

Go to a Walmart parking lot and compare parking behaviors for SUVs and pickups vs. regular cars. I think you'll notice a trend.

 

[yticolev]

I think you are right. I have noticed that but never thought about it. Thank you for that. Those trucks need a backup camera even more than small cars! Despite the safety advantages, they may never be mandated for pickups. Backup cameras have been mandated in the US for all cars manufactured since May 2018 but I cannot find if that includes SUVs even. I'm thinking not.

 

[yticolev]

Oops, wrong again. Backup cameras are indeed mandated on all vehicles less than 10,000 pounds. So that would include pickups, even though a working pickup view from the back can be restricted by loads or towing. Good news I'd say but it will take some time for that to be a substantial portion of all vehicles on the road.

 

[deltasmith]

So far this conversation has implied that backing in and backing out are the only options. Most of the parking lots that I visit offer a third option: pulling through. You don't have to back in or back out when you pull through, but you usually have to spend a few more steps walking between the car and the store. I'm OK with that, because it typically means that I'm not parking tight up against someone with a big SUV that's got a high probability of dinging the side of my car when they open their door.



Responding to Roadkill401, I know my experience in this respect is ancient, and maybe things work differently today or work differently in Canada, but the last I knew, at least here in the USA, if someone hits you in the rear, the insurance company automatically considers them to be at fault. Meaning, you could rocket out of a parking spot in reverse and if someone hit you behind the rear door, then absent really compelling evidence to the contrary, they are at fault according to the insurance company (in jurisdictions that care about fault).


Which is not to suggest that you want to have this experience, even if someone else has to pay for it. Which is way I prefer to pull through when I can, not have to back out, and not have to rely on RCTA to spare me the headaches of dealing with insurance, body shops, and after effects when the insurance and body shop says you should be great, but something still isn't quite the way it used to be if you ever have the misfortune to be involved in a collision..

 

[yticolev]

So far this conversation has implied that backing in and backing out are the only options. Most of the parking lots that I visit offer a third option: pulling through.

The conversation we were having was parking head in (or forward) versus backing in. Pulling through is by far the greenest option, however the point jmurphEV made was that large vehicles may not be able to park forward (thus not being able to pull through either with adjacent parked vehicles.

I've been "pulling through" for years. It is the easy hypermiler choice that anyone can do and cannot be faulted on safety grounds either. It avoids any direction you now have to expend energy to reverse when you park or leave (unless you can take advantage of a slope). Typically you have to park farther away but this is greener for a couple of reasons. One is that you usually do not have to hunt for a spot, and second is that usually total distance driven will be less on that trip. In addition, the extra walk is probably healthier (the debate would be about inhaled exhaust gases and a slight increase in risk of being hit).