Cars following losing white dot

I've now done a couple rides with mine on the v2.00 firmware and found it VERY dangerous for cars to just disappear behind me. I'm riding loops on a "main" residential road that is feed by many side roads. So it isn't uncommon for a car to pace me (speed limit is 25mph, i usually going around 20mph) then turn onto a side road. Then again... Its also not uncommon here for a motorist to either be afraid or "too courteous" and just pace me for long distances.

When it works... Its awesome... The speeders are giving me wider room when they overtake me... But its also promoting a false sense of security. Its not showing me what's behind me like it implies... Its showing me what's trying to overtake me... And this is not always the case. And in a dense residential area... This is invaluable to know if there are cars right on you back wheel without having to turn my head and find they are closer than I thought. And when wanting to make a left turn (legally, signaling and all)... I know when I should and shouldn't get into the middle of the lane to make myself present to not be run over. Taking away that need to turn around every time I think I'm being paced is great... I ride a Aero Road setup for TT.

I think knowing what's behind me is safer than just knowing what is trying to overtake me. I'd rather be "too informed" than not enough. It is a safety device isn't it?

-MadManX99

There seems to be a fair bit of expectation for this device.
It's a rather simple radar, not something you'll find in an F16 cockpit!
I think it does it's job well. If you're not doing a head check when the unit alerts you to a vehicle, then it's probably more of a you problem than a Varia problem.
It doesn't replace the Mark 1 Eyeball.

If you are in traffic and a car is going the same speed as you (or close), it does not seem to detect it.

It's not supposed to. By design, only objects APPROACHING you are reported.

It does seem to be the case that once a car is no longer approaching, it leaves the screen, never to be reported again regardless of the fact that it later speeds up and overtakes you. This behavior is seen mostly when a car slows behind you because it is waiting for oncoming traffic to clear so that it can pass in the opposing lane.

The takeaway from this is that once there is a white dot, you need to account for it, regardless whether it leaves the screen. Maybe it left the screen because it turned at a cross street. Maybe it left the screen because it pulled into a driveway. Maybe it is right behind you. Once there is a white dot, YOU must account for if it leaves the screen without passing you -- in other words, turn head and look.

Obviously it would be better if the Varia kept track of all cars until they were no longer behind you, regardless of their speed. But it is what it is. All Garmin products have a 30 day return if this behavior makes the product useless to you.

FWIW, I bought this kind of on a lark because the technology is just so "gee whiz" cool, but I have found it MUCH more useful than I ever expected, regardless of this behavior.

It's not supposed to. By design, only objects APPROACHING you are reported.

It does seem to be the case that once a car is no longer approaching, it leaves the screen, never to be reported again regardless of the fact that it later speeds up and overtakes you. This behavior is seen mostly when a car slows behind you because it is waiting for oncoming traffic to clear so that it can pass in the opposing lane.

The takeaway from this is that once there is a white dot, you need to account for it, regardless whether it leaves the screen. Maybe it left the screen because it turned at a cross street. Maybe it left the screen because it pulled into a driveway. Maybe it is right behind you. Once there is a white dot, YOU must account for if it leaves the screen without passing you -- in other words, turn head and look.

Obviously it would be better if the Varia kept track of all cars until they were no longer behind you, regardless of their speed. But it is what it is. All Garmin products have a 30 day return if this behavior makes the product useless to you.

FWIW, I bought this kind of on a lark because the technology is just so "gee whiz" cool, but I have found it MUCH more useful than I ever expected, regardless of this behavior.

Yes. The reference turning green with a same speed vehicle behind you then failing to register the same vehicle as it increases speed and passes the cyclist is dangerous. This should definitely be a software fix item. Otherwise, the device is quite a valuable safety device IMO.

Yes. The reference turning green with a same speed vehicle behind you then failing to register the same vehicle as it increases speed and passes the cyclist is dangerous. This should definitely be a software fix item. Otherwise, the device is quite a valuable safety device IMO.

This is not my experience. I find that it tracks an approaching vehicle, then reports no vehicle as it matches my speed and then reports the vehicle again as it accelerates to overtake. I would expect there to be some cases that may not register the car for example it's very closely following and then passes which may not be enough time for the Varia to register changes, or the vehicle comes past very slowly so the speed difference is too small to register. I'm sure Garmin will work on refinements to the detection, I think they have already released one update to work better with scooters, so here's hoping they will catch a few more cases and it will improve further beyond the already good detection.

petition

Yes. The reference turning green with a same speed vehicle behind you then failing to register the same vehicle as it increases speed and passes the cyclist is dangerous. This should definitely be a software fix item. Otherwise, the device is quite a valuable safety device IMO.

exactle this happened me today on my first ride with varia. I was excited how well it worked(a few false alert but any missing), till unexpectably car appeared besides me. I got quite scared, because I felt confident, that with varia i know what going around (dont say that I should not watch traffic and relly only on varia). After this experience, good feeling from varia was gone. I know, that exact cause of that was car following me only shortly and white dot dissapeared really quickly, after 5 seconds. This should be fixed - I understand, that while riding in a group, it has to be disabled in some way, but it cannot happed AFTER 5 SECONDS.
If more people will ask Garmin about this feature on http://www8.garmin.com/contactUs/ideas/ , it might be added. I have impression, that this forum nobody from Garmin actually reads.

Hidden danger

exactle this happened me today on my first ride with varia. I was excited how well it worked(a few false alert but any missing), till unexpectably car appeared besides me. I got quite scared, because I felt confident, that with varia i know what going around (dont say that I should not watch traffic and relly only on varia). After this experience, good feeling from varia was gone. I know, that exact cause of that was car following me only shortly and white dot dissapeared really quickly, after 5 seconds. This should be fixed - I understand, that while riding in a group, it has to be disabled in some way, but it cannot happed AFTER 5 SECONDS.
If more people will ask Garmin about this feature on http://www8.garmin.com/contactUs/ideas/ , it might be added. I have impression, that this forum nobody from Garmin actually reads.

I think this situation where vehicles following at same speed are not displayed is dangerous creating a false sense of security.
I want to know if there is something following me, even if it does match my speed.
I would like someone to explain why they think it is a good idea not to display speed match vehicles!
It has been said that this may be misleading when riding in heavy traffic, but only five vehicles can be displayed so don't see this as a concern, it has also been said that when stationary at junctions or lights multiple detections would be a concern, but the radar is paired with a computer capable of determining if I'm stationary and detections are stationary, so,some filters could then be applied. Any way I would prefer to have some false threat detections than not have speed match detections displayed.
I ride mostly on single carriageway roads with limited passing, so almost all detection initially display then disappear as they slow, then sometimes they show on the display as they speed up to pass but sometimes not. On a ride today I would say this happened more than 70% of the time.
This would be a small thing to put right and could also be made user selectable so the heavy traffic user could disable if it was not to their liking.

I find this device extremely useful as an AID to determine what's approaching me. If course being an AID, it's part of my complete toolset for knowing what's going on behimd me which includes knowing how to look behind me, while riding forward. .....This discussion makes me think most of you assume that with this device there's never a need to look behind while in your bike.

Wrong assumption

I find this device extremely useful as an AID to determine what's approaching me. If course being an AID, it's part of my complete toolset for knowing what's going on behimd me which includes knowing how to look behind me, while riding forward. .....This discussion makes me think most of you assume that with this device there's never a need to look behind while in your bike.

I think you assume wrong! If anyone puts their total faith in this AID they would be very stupid, but what is the point of having an AID that contradicts what your senses are telling you, it then cease to be an AID.
The more verifying information your brain can get the better, especially in this era of hybrid and electric vehicles.
Can you give a valid reason for not showing speed match detections, then I might accept this is for the best but in my mind the current set up is dangerous.