With cars - are we getting too soft?

[Yugguy]

To be fair if it saves me cash I'll fit whatever they want. As long as I can override it. Love the reverse sensors on the Merc but there are times when I need to pull closer than the double red indicators and I know how much distance there is once they're illuminated.

 

[Masklin]

Have done about 700 miles over the last few days and have witnessed lane wandering and jerky corrections, no apparent appreciation of speed limits, no apparent idea there’s someone in their blind spot as they change lane and late sharp braking... all of which can be alleviated by fluffy driving aids.

I appreciate that obviously the standard of driving here is well above average so driving aids are of course superfluous and should be dismissed as fluff (bring back cadence braking I say), but anecdotal observed evidence over many miles is that in reality they might be no bad thing as and when more widely adopted.

 

[Yugguy]

Your sarcasm masks the argument that instead of using technology to mitigate poor standards we should expect higher standards.

Going back to my friends blind spot warning, yes, I can see where it would be useful but this was bleeping constantly which negates the whole point of it because he just ignored it.

 

[Masklin]

Being pragmatic I know that it is unlikely anything radical will be done to have any affect on overall standards, and knowing how congested and difficult modern road conditions are, I’ll continue to look positively upon driver aids being offered.

Current aids are relatively new, so kickback should be expected as they are refined, but they certainly shouldn’t be blindly written off.

My working life has been in aviation, there are many current safety nets and systems both in the air and on the ground that were grumbled about or provoked outright hostility when they were first introduced. Yet all are now accepted and none of you would wish to go flying on your holiday or business trip knowing the pilots or air traffic controllers had chosen to switch them off just because they thought they didn’t need them.

 

[Yugguy]

It's a fair point, but where a previous poster talked about satisfaction gained through the car doing an automatic manouver, I prefer the satisfaction of pulling off a cracking piece of parallel parking.

Where I can accept a car passively warning me of blind spots or distance, or even advising if a space is big enough I don't think I'll ever be able to let it take control.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

It's a fair point, but where a previous poster talked about satisfaction gained through the car doing an automatic manouver, I prefer the satisfaction of pulling off a cracking piece of parallel parking.

Where I can accept a car passively warning me of blind spots or distance, or even advising if a space is big enough I don't think I'll ever be able to let it take control.

Interesting. Sounds like you like to be in control. How do you get on with satnav?

I’m as good and as bad as the majority of the drivers around me, but the car is definitely better at parking than me, because it consistently gets it right every time I’ve used it. I don’t use it often though.

 

[Yugguy]

Satnav, very useful as long as you know when to ignore it, local knowledge of busy times and routes that are longer but actually quicker.

And nothing worse than hearing someone say "oh, the satnav told me to - drive into a river/wrong way up a one way street."

My worry is that too many driver aids will divorce people from what's happening outside even more than now. For instance, auto-headlights - great idea, I have them and I like them. But they don't mean you shouldn't still be aware of the light outside and be prepared to switch them on manually if needs be.

It's funny, I have this vision of a future when cars are basically driverless, and we're all processing, but with hordes of bikers zipping in and out between us, as they'll be the only none-autonomous vehicles left on the roads.

 

[MancMike]

bring back cadence braking I say

Why? It's not required and isn't an improvement when traction won't be lost during braking anyway. All cars have ABS so stabbing the brakes intermittently now only serves to lower the overall braking effort. It'd also increase the chance of unsettling the car and causing bigger problems.

Pumping the brake pedal to simulate ABS incredibly slowly in comparison is not an improvement.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

The moaning thread

 

[Deleted96908]

Traffic sign recognition.

Do you have eyes and a functioning brain? Then you shouldn't need it.

I often find myself looking at the dash to check the speed limit on roads where it’s not immediately obvious.

I also like blind spot assist or whatever it’s called. My Audi doesn’t have it but on the M5 Saturday I tracked a big Volvo 4x4 for 10 minutes or so and it illuminated amber lights in the door mirrors whenever another vehicle was in its 3 quarters. Clearly not something an alert driver will need for 99.99% of their driving lives, but when they do, I’d say that it was a potential life saver.

 

[Yugguy]

I'd love to hack into the systems and replace the real meanings with something like these:
Funny alternative road signs - Car Keys

 

[Masklin]

Why? It's not required and isn't an improvement when traction won't be lost during braking anyway. All cars have ABS so stabbing the brakes intermittently now only serves to lower the overall braking effort. It'd also increase the chance of unsettling the car and causing bigger problems.

Pumping the brake pedal to simulate ABS incredibly slowly in comparison is not an improvement.

It was said tongue in cheek...

 

[MancMike]

It was said tongue in cheek...

 

[190]

My worry is that too many driver aids will divorce people from what's happening outside even more than now.

I strongly agree with this. The advent of 57 airbags and all the driving aids could make some drivers feel invincible. Unfortunately the pedestrians/cyclists/motorcyclists that they might hit through inattention are not so well protected.

 

[MancMike]

I feel nowadays people are more worried about the insurance hike after having an accident than their safety.

 

[Yugguy]

I'm a fool to meself really.

I am really interested in this:
All New Toyota Corolla - The next generation of hybrid driving | Toyota UK
Comes out next year and will come with the 200bhp hybrid.

The top of the range one should come in my price range and will be loaded with all the tech the Japanese can throw at it.

I shall gleefully welcome my robot overlords.

 

[stephenmercedes]

.

The top of the range one should come in my price range and will be loaded with all the tech the Japanese can throw at it.

mmm... if that's within your budget, and you are a lover of Japanese tech, may I suggest a used Nissan GTR, it's already built so no additional 'carbon footprint' if that's your bag...

 

[Yugguy]

Not quite sure that'll get past the missus, she might notice the difference.

 

[renault12ts]

I feel nowadays people are more worried about the insurance hike after having an accident than their safety.

Better that than being too dead too worry about it.

 

[PenelopePitstop]

I live in previous decade, driving car designed before 2010, so I don't have all mentioned gadgets and I'm quite happy with it. But whatever is installed in the car, I expect it to work. I purposely avoided new model with touch screen, no hvac buttons and with a lot of gadgets I don't really need. Do I really need system that won't allow me to open the door if there's oncoming traffic? What if it's busy road and it will never assume it's safe to open the door? Of course you can switch it off, but what's the point of having it then? There's a lot of systems that can be seen as pointless, others will become standard and most people will use it.

I liked sign recognition in Mercedes, but not because it showed me speed limit on the dash. It was updating speed limit on navigation, so on M25 or other smart motorway it was useful with speed limits changing all the time and some distance between gantries.

I expect to drive old Rav4 for 11 days next week, so that will be real back to basics (rental in 3rd world country). Some American rentals are also so basic and without any options, that you feel like it's trip back in time.