Sometimes the best ideas ...

[219]

are the simplest and most obvious ones .

We've been discussing the merits and demerits of tech and gadgetry in cars on another thread .

I was minded of the time my infant daughter ( she's nearly 31 now ) remarked to me that she couldn't find the buckle for the seatbelt in the back seat of my then W123 ( it was dark ) , so I wrote to Mercedes and suggested they should be illuminated when the car lights were on , for which I received a nice letter of thanks and a leather wallet ; on another occasion I wrote ( again some 20 odd years ago ) and suggested that when ABS activates , the brake lights should flash instead of constant illumination so as to give following traffic as much warning as possible .

I know the latter idea was implemented , but haven't seen the illuminated buckles taken up .

Just today , when thinking about on board tech , it occurred to me that if a car was in a crash which caused airbags to deploy , it would be a simple matter to automatically activate hazard lights along with the airbag deployment - this might just give early warning to other traffic and just might prevent another car piling into the smash . I haven't seen this anywhere , yet it strikes me as such a simple and obvious thing .

Taking this a step further , with so many cars having distronic , auto braking , or what have you ; if an agreed standard could be reached across all manufacturers , in the event of a crash , a signal could be transmitted which could trigger auto braking on suitably equipped cars nearby , sooner and more gently than the radar activated last minute braking as used presently .

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Derek, just think about how much money it would cost to fix those gadgets if they were to fail!


However, I'm sure the hazard lights are activated in the event of a collision on most MB's already.

 

[tron]

Fords now phone the emergency services if an airbag goes off. I am beginning to intensely dislike modern cars.

 

[brucemillar]

Buy a Tesla ;^)

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Fords now phone the emergency services if an airbag goes off. I am beginning to intensely dislike modern cars.

I would have thought if ever there was a modern function on a car to approve of then this would be one of them.

What's your gripe with this one?

(I assume you know this isn't just on Fords?)

 

[PobodY]

My gripe would be the prerequisite Ford ownership. :bannana:

 

[Deleted member 113659]

My gripe would be the prerequisite Ford ownership. :bannana:

Snob.

 

[MancMike]

Almost every car on the road activates it's hazard lights automatically when involved in a collision.

 

[gaz_l]

I think there should be some sort of warning device to indicate to the cars in front that they're holding me up, and should get out of my way. I'm thinking of an audible device, possibly quite loud, and operated by an easy to find control inside the cabin. It might also work for cyclists and pedestrians.

Do you think there's any mileage in this?

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[Doodle]

My gripe would be the prerequisite Ford ownership. :bannana:

As the owner of one (I omit the word "proud"), I'm inclined to agree - it has been somewhat a double edged sword.

While it's not given much trouble and been cheap to run, every time I work on the thing I've ended up declaring a fatwah against the designers for their acts of sheer knuckle-dragging engineering bodgery

 

[MancMike]

I think there should be some sort of warning device to indicate to the cars in front that they're holding me up, and should get out of my way. I'm thinking of an audible device, possibly quite loud, and operated by an easy to find control inside the cabin.

That would discriminate against the deaf, it'd need to be backed up with some kind of intense visual signal.

 

[Tiim533]

Fords now phone the emergency services if an airbag goes off. I am beginning to intensely dislike modern cars.

I'm pretty sure my MB phones someone somewhere if my airbag goes off....

 

[MercedesDriver]

Fords now phone the emergency services if an airbag goes off. I am beginning to intensely dislike modern cars.

I'm pretty sure my MB phones someone somewhere if my airbag goes off....

Volvo has this system for some years now which sends accident gps location to a Volvo assistance centre.

 

[219]

Almost every car on the road activates it's hazard lights automatically when involved in a collision.

Can't say I've come across that , given that I've been on the scene of more than a few collisions , I'd have thought I'd have seen it by now if that was the case .

Certainly no car I've had has done that ...

 

[219]

I would have thought if ever there was a modern function on a car to approve of then this would be one of them.

What's your gripe with this one?

(I assume you know this isn't just on Fords?)

I can't see any downside ; worst case scenario is it might not work ( no signal or whatever ) .

 

[MancMike]

Can't say I've come across that , given that I've been on the scene of more than a few collisions , I'd have thought I'd have seen it by now if that was the case.

How recently? Maybe you assumed the driver put the hazards on?

My car puts the hazards on for you if you brake hard and come to a standstill...

Certainly no car I've had has done that..

I think it's a feature of cars manufactured in this century.


Other cleverness you might like includes using alternate bulbs when the car knows one has failed. I.e, if my NSF indicator bulb fails, the car knows about it and will not only tell me about it, but gently flashes the NSF fog light instead. Not brightly enough to look white, just brightly enough to look orange. Neat.

 

[Ted]

Can't say I've come across that , given that I've been on the scene of more than a few collisions , I'd have thought I'd have seen it by now if that was the case . Certainly no car I've had has done that ...

My disco did that over twenty years ago. Activated by an inertia switch under the dash on the passenger side.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Oh dear.

 

[219]

How recently? Maybe you assumed the driver put the hazards on?

My car puts the hazards on for you if you brake hard and come to a standstill...



I think it's a feature of cars manufactured in this century.


Other cleverness you might like includes using alternate bulbs when the car knows one has failed. I.e, if my NSF indicator bulb fails, the car knows about it and will not only tell me about it, but gently flashes the NSF fog light instead. Not brightly enough to look white, just brightly enough to look orange. Neat.

I've been on the scene of crashes seconds after they've happened , last one only a couple of weeks back when cars went into central barrier in torrential rain ( two separate incidents within a mile or so ) and no hazard lights came on ( people in state of shock often don't think about them ) , and I've attended numerous crashes in connection with work where vehicle lights are on but no hazard lights ( unless our guys have disconnected battery ) . When first on scene I've often put my car in fend off position and put my blue light on the roof to protect people until help arrives .

Yes , I'm aware of using substitute lights when one fails , it is a good idea ; much as it has been for many years since SAAB and Volvo lead the way in doubling up tail lights , so that if one failed the second one was still on .

 

[clk320x]

I recently saw a nice Audi R8 driving on the M1.. beautiful car in bright yellow.. drives past in the fast lane. 5 mins later see it on the hard shoulder with the rear end completely smashed up against a Lorry..

Don't remember seeing hazards on tho