I have a 2024 Octavia Vrs diesel. Last year I was in France approaching one of the free ferries over the river Seine, downstream of Rouen. I took a wrong turn and had to reverse, then go slowly forward to get to the correct lane. At only about 2 or 3 mph the car came to a sudden violent stop accompanied by a bang. I thought I had hit a hidden obstruction and got out to look. Absolutely nothing, the car had just autonomously and violently braked to a stop with nothing in front of it. Tonight, whist driving very slowly to park the car it did it again, just as violently. The car I was parking behind was at least 6 feet away, and there were no obstructions on the road that I could see when I got out of the car. Is this an autonomous braking system, and can it be turned off? It would be dangerous if it braked that hard at any greater speed.

Hi @NormanE!

This does sound like the automatic emergency braking feature. Like any other driver-assistance system, it's not flawless and can occasionally react to situations it shouldn't (and vice versa). I've personally had it trigger a couple of times for no apparent reason. For example, it detected a car in a distant lane that was nowhere near me while I was trying to reverse out of a driveway.

You can disable the system through the infotainment settings. Also, keep in mind that it only operates at low speeds. According to the 2024/7 owner's manual, the system functions below 10 km/h. However, it may also not activate if you're moving extremely slowly.

You should also check the section on system limitations in the owner's manual (Parking assist systems > Park Pilot parking aid > Function restriction).

Source: https://www.skoda-auto.com/apps/manuals/Models

No acoustic warning, nothing on the screen, just a sudden stop with a bang, and so immediate that I thought I must have hit an unseen solid object, or that the car had engaged park whilst moving. I am quite used to the warning sound when I am parking and get close to something.

I routinely deactivate the dangerous "lane assist" every time I start the car.

I don't want to deactivate the warning sound which can be quite useful if there is an obstruction that is too low to see.

As for the Park Pilot function, I have never looked, but I don't think my car has it, despite there being a marked switch below the screen. I learned to parallel park long before such aids existed.

Edited 16 hours ago16 hr by NormanE
extra paragraph.

The system can trigger unexpectedly and can be quite sensitive.Two examples from my own experience / one annoying and one superb.

As I exit my driveway, the path dips toward the road causing the front of the Car to drop. At any speed over a few mph it will see the road as a danger and Brake.

Last year I was waiting at a Mini Roundabout for an opportunity to go straight across. There was car crossing from my right and a car waiting on the road from the left. The car on the right passed me and there was no further traffic so I looked over at the car on the other side. It started to move , there were no indicators to show that it was turning right so I assumed that it was going straight on. So I started to slowly move straight ahead. Then the Car suddenly did a u turn and crossed in front of my Car. The autonomous brake sensed it and slammed on the anchors and we stopped dead.There was no contact between the cars but it was close. The Car in front then shot off down the road.All caught on my Dashcam. I spoke to a Road Traffic Officer some days later and he said as described it was a 'Baiting' technique for crash for cash , he said that if it wasn't for the fact that I was going so slow (4mph on the dashcam) and the Braking that I would be involved in an accident that would have been deemed to be my fault.

Automatic Emergency Braking does have its uses.

11 hours ago, NormanE said:

No acoustic warning, nothing on the screen, just a sudden stop with a bang, (...)

That is a bit unusual. I'm almost 100% sure the system is supposed to give a distinct warning tone (a higher-pitched alert) along with a message on the screen explaining what happened. At least that's been my experience when the system has intervened.

12 hours ago, NormanE said:

I don't want to deactivate the warning sound which can be quite useful if there is an obstruction that is too low to see.

Those are separate settings. You should be able to disable only the "Manoeuvre Braking" function (as it's called in more recent owner's manuals) while keeping the parking sensor warnings enabled.

Personally, even though I've had several instances where the system reacted incorrectly, I still leave it enabled. I'd rather deal with the occasional false activation than have it fail to intervene when it's actually needed. Once you're familiar with the system's limitations, it's usually possible to anticipate and work around the situations where it's less reliable.

12 hours ago, NormanE said:

As for the Park Pilot function, I have never looked, but I don't think my car has it, despite there being a marked switch below the screen. (...)

I believe "Park Pilot" is simply Škoda's name for the parking sensor and reversing camera system, rather than a separate parking-assist feature.