The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts
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Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts
#2It is so reliable I no longer impulsively reach for my brakes. Let’s say the car in front of me speeds up after slamming on its brakes.
Hmm. That sounds pretty dangerous :(
Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts
#3It is so reliable I no longer impulsively reach for my brakes. Let’s say the car in front of me speeds up after slamming on its brakes. Hmm. That sounds pretty dangerous :(
Yeah, I could see this becoming a problem in the future. Imagine getting used to this, then for some reason, needing to drive an older car. "Oops, I didn't realize this car required manual braking".
Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts
#4> Just like it was criminal for car makers to drag their feet pushing out seat belts, air bags, and anti-lock brakes in previous safety fights
Apparently Honda couldn't get consumers to pay for ABS and had to install it by default at no extra charge in order for people to have it.
Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts
#5It is so reliable I no longer impulsively reach for my brakes. Let’s say the car in front of me speeds up after slamming on its brakes. Hmm. That sounds pretty dangerous :(
Taken out of context your quote does sound dangerous. If he were used to this and tried to drive another vehicle he may have slower reactions when braking is needed.
The acceleration in your quote is because the road ahead is now clear and he can accelerate up to his cruise speed unless he gets too close again. THe full paras:
>I pull onto a road, say freeway 280, and I set the cruise control. I set the top speed the car should ever go. Say 80 mph. But it doesn’t go 80 unless there’s no cars in front of me. Usually in Silicon Valley there’s traffic. So, the car in that case follows the car in front of me.
>But they just slammed on their brakes to avoid something. What does my car do? It slams on its brakes too. It is so reliable I no longer impulsively reach for my brakes. Let’s say the car in front of me speeds up after slamming on its brakes. My car speeds up too. It’s like there is a rope between my car and theirs. It is like nothing you’ve ever experienced.
Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts
#6"Ford’s version of radar prepares the brakes so that all you need to do is touch them to get full braking pressure if the car thinks it’s headed for a collision."
That sounds like a really good way to get hit from behind. Does the system try to stop you as fast as possible, or as slow as possible while still avoiding the car in front? The second option is kinder to cars behind without such sophisticated safety systems.
Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts
#7I suppose I would have to experience first hand to really weigh in on whether I would use it or not, but from an initial reaction standpoint, I would think I'd prefer an all or nothing approach. Meaning, either fully automated driving or don't help me at all. I just can't help but imagine that I'd never be able to get used to this type of selective assistance. Someone cutting you off doesn't necessarily mean you're headed for a crash and no cars in front of you doesn't necessarily mean you can drive 80 mph without caution. If you grow to rely on a system such as this, it only takes one incident where the vehicle doesn't believe it's about to be in a crash when you really are for it to ultimately fail. Or worse yet, for the car to sense you may be in a crash and apply counter measures which causes panic by the driver and ultimately leads to a crash anyway due to overcorrection or something similar.
Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts
#8"Ford’s version of radar prepares the brakes so that all you need to do is touch them to get full braking pressure if the car thinks it’s headed for a collision." That sounds like a really good way to get hit from behind. Does the system try to stop you as fast as possible, or as slow as possible while still avoiding the car in front? The second option is kinder to cars behind without such sophisticated safety system…
It'd be especially cool if it took both front and back radar into account. If nobody is behind you break more liberally but otherwise exercise more caution.
(It does seem like there would be room for such an "aggressiveness" parameter, since you can't predict the future breaking behavior of the car in front of you and it might have stronger or weaker breaks.)
Either way I hope all of this stuff works out to be a net win. We should know more in a year or two!
Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts
#9According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, electronic stability control is the most important technology since seat belts.
Yet, as recently as a couple of years ago, the Volkswagen Rabbit (Golf) was the only car under $20,000 I could find with the option, other than Suzuki. As an example, the Honda Civic did not have it, and you had to buy an Accord or an SUV to get Honda's version of it.
An electronic stability system "makes the vehicle go where you're pointing it by applying the (computer-assisted) brakes. I think this is definitely a milestone." This includes driving on ice, or making tight turns (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-hHWSQhKuc)
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/06/...
Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts
#10It is so reliable I no longer impulsively reach for my brakes. Let’s say the car in front of me speeds up after slamming on its brakes. Hmm. That sounds pretty dangerous :(
Taken out of context your quote does sound dangerous. If he were used to this and tried to drive another vehicle he may have slower reactions when braking is needed. The acceleration in your quote is because the road ahead is now clear and he can accelerate up to his cruise speed unless he gets too close again. THe full paras: > I pull onto a road, say freeway 280, and I set the cruise control. I set the top speed th…
Yeh sorry the accel section got copied over by accident.
I do think the first section highlights one of the big concerns though. Regardless of scobles excitment this tech is still in the infancy. There could be a dangerous transfer period.