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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

#41

Post by Devilboy »

nazgulnarsil wrote: post #29
Devilboy wrote: post #20

BMW has a system in their top-end saloons that will safely pull your car over to the side of the road without crashing if the driver is suddenly incapacitated (e.g. a heart attack). These system are great and I hope we can overcome the social barriers eventually. Car accidents are still the #1 cause of preventable death worldwide. EDIT: Here's another great system expected to start trials in 2011: http://nextbigfutur…

how does that work if you're not right next to the shoulder?

GPS combined with various road / traffic sensors. VW has a system that can drive itself all the way to a hospital (or anywhere really) in city traffic. They're going to trial some of these systems in Germany this year. Because of more stringent liability laws in the US you won't see it in America any time soon though.

Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts

#42

Post by ugh »

houseabsolute wrote: post #22
ugh wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Driving cars is very dangerous. The earlier we radically change how we use cars the earlier we can avoid deaths on the streets. I want an autopilot for cars as soon as possible.

Absolutely. The moment we develop an autopilot that is safer than average human drivers by a statistically significant margin, it should be mandatory in all cars. I am hopeful that we will see this during our lifetimes.

The introduction of such systems (probably expensive at first) would also be a great opportunity to switch from car ownership to widespread car rental (ala zipcar).

Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts

#43

Post by axod »

mattmaroon wrote: post #40
axod wrote: post #39

I don't buy it. If you need a radar to tell you you're about to crash, you're probably not paying attention properly. We should tighten up driving tests. Driving shouldn't be a right, it should be something only competent attentive people can do. It'd be interesting to know stats on Manual vs Automatic car accident rates. I'd guess that Automatics are involved in more accidents since the drivers are probably paying l…

It's not that you need it to tell you that, it's that the human brain, even when focused, is relatively slow to respond. Not to mention many people have a panic impulse that causes them to yell first and then step on the brakes. In certain situations where a half second can mean the difference between death and a bruised knee, it's pretty impressive stuff.

Sure but that's why you pay attention and drive properly, and look out for any dangers/issues.

The best way to cut down the number of accidents is to get rid of all the crazy bad drivers, rather than any sort of technology IMHO.

Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts

#44

Post by elblanco »

Ford is really doing a phenomenal job recently, doing its homework and engineering to try and get the company back on track. 5 years ago, I would have said they were 10-15 years behind an equivalent Japanese car. Now I think they they are only 3-5 years.

Their recent offerings are really very impressive. I'd love to see Ford be a benchmark for American car companies as well as imports. They aren't quite there yet, but their progress is amazing.

Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts

#45

Post by wtallis »

axod wrote: post #39

I don't buy it. If you need a radar to tell you you're about to crash, you're probably not paying attention properly. We should tighten up driving tests. Driving shouldn't be a right, it should be something only competent attentive people can do. It'd be interesting to know stats on Manual vs Automatic car accident rates. I'd guess that Automatics are involved in more accidents since the drivers are probably paying l…

If somebody cuts you off, the radar is guaranteed to have a faster reaction time than you.

Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts

#46

Post by kscaldef »

mattmaroon wrote: post #40
axod wrote: post #39

I don't buy it. If you need a radar to tell you you're about to crash, you're probably not paying attention properly. We should tighten up driving tests. Driving shouldn't be a right, it should be something only competent attentive people can do. It'd be interesting to know stats on Manual vs Automatic car accident rates. I'd guess that Automatics are involved in more accidents since the drivers are probably paying l…

It's not that you need it to tell you that, it's that the human brain, even when focused, is relatively slow to respond. Not to mention many people have a panic impulse that causes them to yell first and then step on the brakes. In certain situations where a half second can mean the difference between death and a bruised knee, it's pretty impressive stuff.

That may be, but I still look with suspicion on someone who says he would have gotten in 2 accidents in 11,000 miles had his car not saved him. In my experience, it's very, very rare for someone to just cut you off with no warning. I can almost always predict that someone is going to switch lanes without signaling; usually 2 or 3 seconds before they do it.

Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts

#47

Post by kyro »

The assisted braking 'feature' where the system moves your calipers closer to your rotors sounds really stupid and dangerous. When I press the brakes, I am expecting a buffer period between initial contact with my pedal and the actual deceleration of the vehicle. Because of that buffer, I tend to push my pedal down further to initiate braking. Eliminating that buffer with drivers who have come to expect it will make for very sudden braking, which would probably increase the chance of being hit from behind.

Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts

#48

Post by dgallagher »

GPS-enabled Governors should be put in all cars too, limiting your speed to that of the speed limit, adjusted for weather conditions. If you're in a 35 MPH zone, you car will stop accelerating (and ideally auto-slow when going downhill or onto slower roads) once you hit the limit for that part of the road.

Speed limits would likely have to be re-adjusted in some cases as they may be too low in some area's, but it would certainly cut down on accidents.

An exception would be allowing people to speed in short bursts. While rare, sometimes you need to accelerate to avoid an accident. Not allowing for this would be unfair.

Definitely wouldn't be popular with a lot of people, or police departments generating revenue from speeding tickets. But driving is simply a means of getting from A to B in a safe and efficient manner. So long as people are getting hurt or killed in between A and B, something is very broken.

Re: The most under-hyped, but most important, technology since seat belts

#49

Post by paulbaumgart »

kscaldef wrote: post #46
mattmaroon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that you need it to tell you that, it's that the human brain, even when focused, is relatively slow to respond. Not to mention many people have a panic impulse that causes them to yell first and then step on the brakes. In certain situations where a half second can mean the difference between death and a bruised knee, it's pretty impressive stuff.

That may be, but I still look with suspicion on someone who says he would have gotten in 2 accidents in 11,000 miles had his car not saved him. In my experience, it's very, very rare for someone to just cut you off with no warning. I can almost always predict that someone is going to switch lanes without signaling; usually 2 or 3 seconds before they do it.

Predicting un-signaled lane changes is almost a required survival skill on a motorcycle.
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