Odd Driver Assist Behavior in CT and MA

[KBabione]

Just got home from a round trip from PA to western Massachusetts and I love the new lane change functionality in Driver Assist. It made the traveling much nicer because changing lanes is now smooth. I did learn that it doesn't like me gripping the wheel tightly when we hit bumps (it deactivates), but other than that it was really good.

Here's the weird thing...We were on I-84 east going from NY to CT and, about a mile into CT, I got the message that "Driver assist functionality not available in this location" (or something like that). Okay - that happens from time to time, but within a mile or two you usually get the icon back and can re-engage it. Not this time...It didn't work at all in CT on I-84 east NOR did it work on I-91 north as I drove north from Hartford into Massachusetts. This was on December 29th. Fast forward to the 31st and we're on our return trip. After a beer run to Treehouse Brewing in Deerfield for a pizza and a case, we got on I-91 south and, low and behold, Driver Assist worked perfectly! It continued to work into CT as we merged onto I-84 west and was almost perfect the whole way home to PA.

Anybody have any ideas why it wouldn't work on the same highways heading one direction but be fine heading the other direction?

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[RivRyan]

Given the number of people in another driver assist thread who related being steered into the wall in construction zones, I wonder if they’re starting to learn to notify car companies to shut these systems down during prep for construction.

 

[SANZC02]

Just got home from a round trip from PA to western Massachusetts and I love the new lane change functionality in Driver Assist. It made the traveling much nicer because changing lanes is now smooth. I did learn that it doesn't like me gripping the wheel tightly when we hit bumps (it deactivates), but other than that it was really good.

Here's the weird thing...We were on I-84 east going from NY to CT and, about a mile into CT, I got the message that "Driver assist functionality not available in this location" (or something like that). Okay - that happens from time to time, but within a mile or two you usually get the icon back and can re-engage it. Not this time...It didn't work at all in CT on I-84 east NOR did it work on I-91 north as I drove north from Hartford into Massachusetts. This was on December 29th. Fast forward to the 31st and we're on our return trip. After a beer run to Treehouse Brewing in Deerfield for a pizza and a case, we got on I-91 south and, low and behold, Driver Assist worked perfectly! It continued to work into CT as we merged onto I-84 west and was almost perfect the whole way home to PA.

Anybody have any ideas why it wouldn't work on the same highways heading one direction but be fine heading the other direction?

Were you possibly in Driver+ jail? If you do not see or ignore a warning message it disables the feature until you park and start driving again.

 

[LittonLad]

I live in CT and can confirm I get very similar issues when driving to and from Boston from Hartford, but not always consistently in the exact same area. The CT section of I84 head north from Hartford to the Turnpike has spots where Driver+ is not available. Consistent with your observations, I can’t remember ever having issues when heading south on I84.

 

[iforbes]

Good call on the stop at Treehouse. Bad call on only one case.
I’ve never had a problem in CT.

 

[Grajjie]

I just did a NYC to Boston trip this past weekend and I haven’t had any issues with availability issues with Driver+ though I do manually disengage when construction zones or temporary lane shifts come up since Driver+ tends to freak out and I don’t feel safe using it in those areas.

 

[KBabione]

Were you possibly in Driver+ jail? If you do not see or ignore a warning message it disables the feature until you park and start driving again.

That must be it - damn "Chance" cards...I went directly to jail without passing Go. I honestly didn't realize this was a "thing". The owner's manual describes it, but it's when it takes over and brings you to a park. We didn't have to stop from when we charged (Goldens Bridge NYEvolve) until I got to Shelburne Falls so it never had a chance to reset. I had it engaged when we entered CT and then got the warning that it was unavailable in that area but was never able to re-engage it. I'll keep an eye on it in the future. Thank you!

 

[KBabione]

Good call on the stop at Treehouse. Bad call on only one case.
I’ve never had a problem in CT.

We got lucky...They actually opened an hour early on Sunday the 31st (including pizza). Although I've had their beers, I've never stopped there. The Deerfield location is amazing! If we had a disappointment it was that one of the draft beers we tried (Snow) wasn't available in cans...A true first world problem!

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