Is car safety technology replacing common sense?

"Spending time this week in the all-around exceptional Volvo S80...has
been an unmitigated joy. But truth be told, I'm feeling a little
dizzied by the array of electronic collision-avoidance nannies looking
out for me as I drive..."

Wired Magazine article: http://301url.com/dyu

 

No, it is not replacing common sense.. Common sense has been extinct
for a long time.

 

Would be nice if it could jam all cell phones nearby. Maybe then people
could concentrate on driving instead of talking. This would go a long way
toward collision avoidance.

 

A small nuclear blast in your trunk would create a nice EM pulse,
accomplishing that cellphone chore, and likely give you some nice
acceleration too.

 

It would probably CAUSE collisions, as cell-phone users would suddenly
divert the 20% of their attention normally applied to driving into
frantically redialing the dropped call.

Now, if cell phones wouldn't work while the car was moving, THAT would
help!

Java

 

I'm with you on your subject.
ABS brakes yes, but stability control, etc. take away from me the
things I do to recover a slip on snowy roads.
I read an experienced driver saying he liked it because it allowed him
to drive on the edge. That's his problem; on public roads he shouldn't
be driving on the edge.

Lets face it, many of these devices are all about marketing, not
additional value.

 

Lol
http://www.cell-phone-jammers.com/

 

Stability control does things faster than you can. Electrons move faster
than your brain or your hands and feet.

I was in a situation a few months back on the highway at about 65, wet road
and a very hard swerve. Fact is, my other car probably would have taken me
down the median sideways; the stability control allowed me to cut the wheel
hard left, then hard right to avoid an accident. It did not take away the
things I'd have done to (possibly) recover, it eliminated the need for them.

No matter how good a driver you are, stability control will react faster and
pulse a single wheel brake, if needed, that is not possible to do with a
normal braking system. If you truly thing you are better, push a button and
turn it off.

 

As well as I think the biggest benefit of these technologies is for less
skilled drivers, which so far as I can tell, make up a large portion of
those on the road.

 

Problem is that all these new gadgets are dependent on imperfect sensors
and are sometimes are missing the sensors they need to really do the job
properly.

A good example of this that many people are well aware of is the ABS on
something like a 1T pickup, particularly when unloaded. What happens is
that you are doing moderate braking and hit a bump of some sort, due to
the stiff suspension, the wheel bounces up and out of contact with the
road and stops rotating until it contacts the road again. The ABS
mistakenly thinks the wheel has locked up since it lacks a sensor input
to tell it the wheel lost contact with the road (a Z axis accelerometer
would probably do the trick).

As a result the ABS freaks out and you loose a substantial amount of
braking capability for a short time. For some people this has resulted
in bumper taps in situations where the speed and distance would have
provided plenty of braking space if the ABS had not malfunctioned.
People who drive these vehicles regularly learn to scan the road surface
when braking and momentarily release the brakes when crossing any kind
of bump in order to prevent the ABS caused loss of braking.

 

I'm lucky with my car and can turn the stability control off. But it's
an Acura, not sure what's available on the newest Fords and
Lincoln/Merc.

 

All of these technologies are not quite perfect.... but they are closer to
perfect than the vast majority of drivers could ever hope to be.

Not one person here (on this cross posted diatribe) will admit that their
driving is flawed - Every last one of us has "moods", distractions, good
days, bad days - flaws ad nauseum and we carry those flaws with us where
ever we go....

If we all didn't blindly believe we are all so friggin' great, we wouldn't
need these features. Common sense would reign supreme and people wouldn't
die on the highway....

 

Despite what the site says, they are illegal to use in the US.

http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/index.htm?job=operations_2&id=cellular

 

I am shocked that some lobby group has pushed through legislation to
mandate the anti-roll-over robot sysyem. First of all, these excessive
technologies make autos too expensive for middle class people to buy and
maintain. Secondly, lets supose that a driver swervs the car to avoid
school children but the robot takes control to prevent a roll-over and
so runs down the children. I believe these robot control ideas are nuts
and I also think anti-lock braks and side air bags can't be cost
justified.

 

The case I pointed out is well known by the manufacturers and yet they
have not taken any action that I know of to resolve the problem,
probably because it would add $10 to manufacturing cost.

 

That's a myth actually, common sense has never been common. Sure, before
the industrial age basic survival skills were more common, but the "Hold
my beer (ale, mead, cider, etc.) and watch this" has been around pretty
much forever.

 

.....As "the guy at the end of the bar" mounts the bar, grabs the
chandelier in an attempt to make like Tarzan and swing across the bar
room and land on one of the pool tables, while instead learns he is
too heavy, pulls the chandelier -AND 4 SQUARE FEET OF PLASTER- from
the ceiling, and lands along with it on top of "chisel-chest" 4 stools
away, who then proceeds to beat "the guy at the end of the bar" to a
pulp with a piece of the chandelier!!




(I couldn't resist!)




































.....and then the whole damn place burns to the ground because the
wires to the chandelier, sparking & smoking in the ceiling, ignite dry
eighty-year-old wooden rafters. 34 out of 40 people presently in the
bar die of smoke or fire, including a candidate for the city's mayor,
whose campaign promises included eliminating grandfather laws which
kept SPRINKLERS out of old pubs like this one in the FIRST PLACE!!!






(want some more?)

 

Car safety technology is attempting to compensate for other people's
stupidity, for people who use cell phones for texting while driving,
etc. It doesn't take much common sense to know that looking at where
one is going helps avoid accidents.

 

It adds about $100 to the price of a car.


Secondly, lets supose that a driver swervs the car to avoid

I think perhaps you are nuts. The anti-roll is not going to stop you from
going where you want to go. It is designed to help you go where you want to
go, such as to avoid the children while not going sideways and taking out 20
adults at the bus stop. It does not take over the steering, it controls
wheel spin and skidding.

As for the side airbags, when I got T-boned by a Mack truck, they would
have been nice to have. Maybe would have save a big lump on my head and a
trip to the hospital.

Rather that talk about possibilities that you are unaware of, drive a car
with these controls. I've played with mine in the snow and ice and I know
it gives me control that would be impossible without it. I switched it off
and tried it. Controlled turns, straighter braking. Sure, the best way is
to not get into those situations, but at one time or another, it can happen
and while I'm very experienced, I'll take all the help I can get.

 

And what case is it that you pointed out?

"Hold my beer/mead/ale"? Not much the manufacturer can do about that....

After that, you made a reply to Edwin Pawlowski (a good post, BTW, on his
part) without pointing out any cases....

FWIW, this topic was quite heavily cross-posted (or has the header escaped
everyone?). If you have made a point in some other thread, there is a very
real chance I will never see it... and I don't think I owe it to anyone to
go searching....

Notice the new requirement for low tire pressure sensors.... Observant
motorsists would notice the overwhelming number of cars driving down the
road with obviously low tires.... If a person can't take the time to make
sure his tires are round and his lights work.... what are the chances that
this is a "good" driver?

As it stands... the road is full of people that are doing everything there
is to be done... other than actually driving the car. Cell phones.....
choosing a tune... shaving (ferKrissake).... reading.... looking at there
GPS (to get to a place they've been a hundred times before)..... The act of
driving a car rarely gets the attention it requires and deserves.....

People have become so jaded that they believe that this privelege is a
"right".....

Depending on your comprehension and reading skills..... and, using an
average from 2004, 39 people died on highways in the USA while you were
reading this post.... What kind of price tag should we put on a human being?
Where do we say "enough is enough"?

I have some old fashioned ideas..... people used to accept the "rewards" of
their actions - good, bad or indifferent. In this modern age, these safety
devices make it hard for us to shift the blame from our own
shortcomings.....

For some, the idea that an imperfect electromechanical device is better than
some jerk-off that thinks he is Gods gift to tires can be a hard pill to
swallow.... I would rather put my families safety in the hands of that
electronic device than leave their well being in the hands of someone that
bases their driving skill on the fact that they still have most of their
original family members....