I wonder how much more functionality would be needed on top of a state-of-the-art active suspension, to enable the car to "walk" sideways into a parking spot.
The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)
71–80 of 86 posts
Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
In my experience cars that have that system can both get in and out for you.
He means cars that do NOT have the feature may be unable to get out, as they may be trapped by cars that have the feature and park extremely close
That happens all the time without the system though. People who drive tiny little cars that turn on a dime routinely underestimate the space it takes for a big van or whatever to get out.
Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure where this myth comes from but in France, although it's not a crime to slightly bump the car in front or before by mistake while parking if there isn't much space, it would be very much frowned upon to do it with enough force to actually move the other cars. Using the handbrake while the car is parked is universal, and in most modern cars the handbrake activates automatically, so it would likely cause ac…
Hm, personally, I got warned about this by my French language teacher. And the fact that there are videos of this "bumper-parking" happening [1][2][3] made it believable. Just over the border, touching a car like that is not a crime - but an accident (and leaving from an accident site without contacting the owner of the other vehicle OR the police is a crime). [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkCyepivokQ [2] https…
All cars bumping others in your videos are already pretty damaged though and they are all in Paris, which is pretty much agreed upon in France to be home of the worst drivers in the country. I'm not surprised their drivers are doing this, but that doesn't make it a normal thing to do. Also, the "c'est normal en France" comments and applause in the second video are obviously sarcastic.
These are 100% just bad drivers that are lucky the owners of the other cars weren't here (and would have probably fled in that case). As I said, this behaviour results in filling an accident statement if the victim is present (and if actual damage is observed of course).
Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)
#74I think it never made it big because: 1. Thinking about having to parallel park makes sure you are less likely to bump the cars in front and behind. Moving the front in and then swinging the back in seems like a good way to swing the back into another car. 2. Parking wasn't as much of a nightmare in the early 30s. Then WWII happened and that metal would have been an excess. By the 50s it was a "failed" idea. Having 9…
>Having 90 degree car wheels (that can only go 90 degrees at ~rest) combined with the sensors on a modern EV might make it feasible. But I'm not a mechanical engineer so "90 degree car wheels" might have some other feasibility problems, even at rest.
Should be easily possible to get almost the same effect on any RWD car if the engineers feel like designing for it (they don't). It's just a matter of allowing enough steering angle (amount depends on wheelbase). Every forklift made in the last 70yr can pivot about one of the non-steering wheels if you turn the wheel far enough. Some commercial trucks have enough steering angle to get almost the same effect (though they're much longer so the required angle is less) With ABS to brake the pivot point wheel it would be pretty graceful and you'd avoid the "just plowing straight" that forklifts tend to do when you try and crank the steering to max on anything other than pavement.
But there would be a lot of tradeoffs in order to get the range of motion you'd need out of the steering wheels so it makes sense that they don't.
Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the UK this would be deeply frowned upon. Front + Rear dashcams would be used to claim on insurance and report a "hit and run" accident to the police. I don't put it down to people trying to "make space", more down to incompetence IMO. At least in the UK cars will generally be parked with the handbrake ("emergency brake" in the US AIUI) engaged, meaning that the back wheels will not move, so "nudging" a car will o…
> A "little bump" can be enough to cause some expensive damage on modern cars. But the point is it's only expensive because people insist on repairing minor cosmetic damage to factory condition. If people just accepted that when they leave giant objects lying around in public then they're going to get scratched occasionally, it would be cheaper and easier for everyone.
I think it depends on population density as well. I grew up in a rural area in the US and now live in Philadelphia on a tiny side street barely two cars wide. Every single car on our street has scratches/small dents on the bumper and fender from others parallel parking. If you live here you have to accept that "bumpers are for bumping"!
Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)
#76also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecanum_wheel
"The mecanum wheel is an omnidirectional wheel design for a land-based vehicle to move in any direction"
Would be interesting to have a bunch of these extend out from below the car. It would double as an inbuilt jack too.
Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have found that across most of the world (including expensive "first world" countries in Europe) it is perfectly normal for cars to have random dings and bumps from everyday use. I had a tour guide in Italy who "nudged" the cars on either end while getting into a parking spot and no one thought twice about it. In the US it would have caused a mini riot. Over here for some reason it is socially unacceptable to have…
In the UK this would be deeply frowned upon. Front + Rear dashcams would be used to claim on insurance and report a "hit and run" accident to the police. I don't put it down to people trying to "make space", more down to incompetence IMO. At least in the UK cars will generally be parked with the handbrake ("emergency brake" in the US AIUI) engaged, meaning that the back wheels will not move, so "nudging" a car will o…
It's not normal in the UK to ever touch another car with your own. However I have heard that it happens in some towns/cities on the continent. I'm guessing they park on flat roads and leave the handbrake off. No idea how a car is supposed to escape if it's wedged between two others though.
As for dashcams, don't these normally switch off while the car is parked?
Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
People also don't hesitate to honk if you are driving with a bike, or even a car slowly. It has a fine of 10 Euros, so nobody cares (even the Police themselves) if you call the police for abusive honking. Last week we were driving 43km/s on a road with 50km/s limit. The driver behind us drove 10cm away from our bumper for like 5 minutes, and even though our indicator was on he didn't calculate we will slow down even…
> People also don't hesitate to honk if you are driving with a bike, or even a car slowly. The acoustic warning signal is meant to warn other traffic participants of imminent danger - which includes the intend to overtake (outside of towns). There is no fine for that. > but I expected more from Germany, a country in which people normally love sticking to the rules. Careful there: Your scenario does not exactly paint…
> The acoustic warning signal is meant to warn other traffic participants of imminent danger - which includes the intend to overtake (outside of towns). There is no fine for that.
Honking before overtaking is completely fine, I know my rules. Imminent danger honking is allowed everywhere, even in towns. It's completely not allowed honking to mean "drive faster".
> Careful there: Your scenario does not exactly paint you as a hero
You are missing context, perhaps I should have given the full picture: The road IMHO wasn't suitable to drive at 50km/h. It was curvy with many parked cars on the sides. I wasn't trying to annoy anyone. I even started breaking earlier before turn so it wasn't a harder break, which may have saved us from an accident. Also 43 is nowhere near going "too slow". You need to drive 25 or less, so that it becomes a dangerous situation. The instructors would give you a warning in an exam before failing you if you do it twice, if you drive less than half the limit.
You can also drive 60km/h in a country road (limit 100km/h), and as long as you do not go below 50 for an extended period of time, you don't need to worry. If you are going slowly just to piss someone off, or you are creating a dangerous situation (for example, blocking the flow of the traffic when there's cross-traffic), that's a different story.
Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most definitely, which would be the same if something like that had been enforced in the US. We'd have some "Driving Schools", which would "guarantee" your license or something like that. Though people would have likely voted the government out first, but looking at the building codes I am not 100% confident.
Quality depends heavily on how corrupt your government is — in Germany, these strict tests are actually that strict and work well. But obviously not everyone can get a license due to this. (e.g., I opted not to spend the 2000€ that a license would cost).
Is it the license fee or a "driving school" tuition?
Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the UK this would be deeply frowned upon. Front + Rear dashcams would be used to claim on insurance and report a "hit and run" accident to the police. I don't put it down to people trying to "make space", more down to incompetence IMO. At least in the UK cars will generally be parked with the handbrake ("emergency brake" in the US AIUI) engaged, meaning that the back wheels will not move, so "nudging" a car will o…
> A "little bump" can be enough to cause some expensive damage on modern cars. But the point is it's only expensive because people insist on repairing minor cosmetic damage to factory condition. If people just accepted that when they leave giant objects lying around in public then they're going to get scratched occasionally, it would be cheaper and easier for everyone.
I did not mean minor cosmetic things.
I mean broken lights, broken parking sensors, broken washer jets, damaged number plates etc. Modern bumpers are designed to prevent injuries to pedestrians - it may "look fine" from the outside but internal mounting brackets etc may be bent out of alignment or otherwise damaged. These are all expensive to put right.