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Every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera

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Re: Every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera

#722

I rented a car that had this feature and instantly hated it. I forget the make, but if it detected you were not looking at the road for a period of time, it would slam on the brakes and release. A way to jolt you awake. The problem was it routinely misclassified where I was looking, so I would get random brake slams which would panic me more. I returned it after a day and asked for a new car.

FWIW, the only time I ever had emergency brakes kick in are in spurious situations, like tight maneuvers or there is something ahead with plenty of headway to decide whether you should brake or not. A cyclist moved close to the traffic light fast and the car completely stopped. This one was a bit more dangerous because had there been someone behind, that driver would not have expected such an abrupt stop.

>so I would get random brake slams which would panic me more

Every time it happens, it hurts as I'm not prepared for it.

Lane assist is also particularly bad as it handles some slight curves incorrectly, so it resists your driving. As a result with such cars I have my arms muscles tense up in anticipation of some turns.

Re: Every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera

#723
post #624

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe that's part of why VW had to fire 100k employees? They've been lately doing a subpar job designing cars.

I think it’s a legal requirement, because it’s the same for Tesla.

In older VW Polos (at least) it was easy to disable that feature with two clicks on a physical button located on the steering wheel. Not so on the ID.3, and other newer Volkswagens, unfortunately.

Re: Every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera

#724
post #485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When I'm cruising on the highway I like to rest my right wrist on the top of the wheel, which blocks the sensor. Won't this shatter your wrist if your airbag deploys? I remember being taught to hold the sides of the wheel in driving class.

There's theory and there's practice. In theory you're supposed to maintain 10 and 2 at all times. In practice, that gets fatiguing over long trips.

[deleted]

Re: Every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera

#725

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone who's working on making driving a car unbearable has my vote! My bicycle has a single chime and it's manually operated.

I legit can't tell if this is sarcasm or not.

Why would you care what the guy was thinking writing that comment? Do you know him? He might as well just be a stochastic parrot.

Just like with other media (movie, book, etc), the product is the end product, in this case a joke or a thought-provoking view. You shouldn't care about the creator's actual views or consider them while engaging with his comment.

Re: Every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera

#726

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. I drive a 1991 Honda Prelude and I don't think I'll want to drive anything else probably ever.

I suspect owning a car will become increasingly rare as self driving improves. You'd take public transport for the bulk of trips with self driving cars for odd routes / late night trips PT doesn't cover.

I live in the Polish countryside and there is no public transport :-D

Re: Every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera

#727

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. I drive a 1991 Honda Prelude and I don't think I'll want to drive anything else probably ever.

I like 90s cars, but crash safety has come a long way since then. In my opinion late 2000s / early 2010s are the sweet spot between reliability, safety, and simplicity.

Yes, that's true but I really like this model.

Maybe I should research some cool cars from that era.

Re: Every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera

#728

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At this point I don't know if I'd buy anything made after 2008. At this point I'm contemplating finding a a late 60s/early 70s Beetle - or some other car with no more complex electronics in it than headlight switches and dizzy/points type ignition. Nobody is gonna be able to sewt that to remote brick itself when it thinks I'm ignoring it's incessant beeping.

Unless you're going to be staying within a small city with almost entirely short trips, you probably want a bigger and less primitive car from that era than a Beetle.

Back in the late 80s and early 90s, I drove a '72 Superbug reasonably regularly from Sydney to Brisbane and Melbourne, even Adelaide a few times. They're 800-1000km trips each way and 1600km for Adelaide.

Admittedly my muscles and bones ache and complain more now than when I was in my late teens and early 20s. And I'd almost certainly regret not having air con and working heating if I owned one now.

But realistically? 98+% of all my driving is trips or 5-15km or so. And probably still 95% of my driving (at least by trip count if not by km travelled) would be less than 50km trips. I think a "suitable for around town" car supplemented by taxis or rentals at airports because I choose to fly most of my 800+km trips these days would work out just fine for me.

The last 5 or 6 years the only long trips I've driven have been in a campervan borrowed from a friend to go to music festivals in Queensland - partly because a camper van is really nice compared to a tent (especially if the weather goes bad) and partly because that friend really likes lending it out (at leat to people he trusts).

Re: Every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera

#729
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine driving thru night with kids sleeping and suddenly car starts beeping. Is there a way how to switch sensors off for similar situations?

You can switch them off but only until the engine is turned off again. Most manufacturers have a shortcut on the dashboard or steering wheel though. Eventually you just get used to doing that every time you start driving.

>...until the engine is turned off again

Modern electric Volkswagens (and some other brands) have this amazingly awful feature where lifting your ass off the driver's seat turns off the "ignition". The car just shuts off immediately, AC turns off, CarPlay disconnects, those driver settings reset. Even if I sit back one second later.

Re: Every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera

#730

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think an in-car breathalyzer which gates the ignition would also save a lot of lives. > Most people agree that kind of manufactured paternalism is an overreach and would be against its introduction. Congress already passed a law in 2021 to start the process of requiring alcohol impairment detection in new cars around 2030 - the HALT Drunk Driving Act. It had broad, bipartisan support. I would say "most people agr…

I have a hard time believing that the public at large is gonna be okay with having to blow into a hose anytime they turn on their cars.

No need. There are now sensors which can passively detect the presence of alcohol on anyone's breath within the cabin, and sensors which can detect BAC when you put your finger on them.

    if alcohol_detected_in_cabin:
        promptDriverForFingerprint()
The same cameras used to monitor if the driver is falling asleep can also check for cheating.
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