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Originally Posted by EagleEye FlatOut sir, you seem to have really different ideas about technological improvements in cars. You seem to admonish features like auto-dimming, windscreen demister etc. saying that we should all use our brains instead.
What you should realize, instead, is that most accidents happen as a result of human error. Humans err, it's in our nature. Now please tell me one thing, will your brain be more likely to make an error when it has less things to worry about, or when it has a lot of things to control manually?
It stands to reason, therefore, that these features enable your brain to concentrate on less parameters compared to what it would have had to otherwise, enabling you to focus that much more on the road ahead of you.
Good seatbelts with pre-tensioners and safe steering columns make a huge difference. Contrary to what you seem to be thinking, in an accident the car does not come to a halt due to brakes having been applied, but due to a collision. Have you forgotten?
Are you kidding me? You mean to say every time the front/rear windscreen mists up, we've to pull over and wipe it off?? Even if it keeps happening every 5 minutes??
I rest my case. |
My dear EagleEye, I will address your misunderstandings of what I said last of all.
First of, we do agree that driver concentration is paramount. I would add that vehicle ergonomics and active safety are also paramount. New technology means many things are possible, whether or not it is a good thing. I see a danger that because it is possible, manufacturers are unable to leave it out if others offer it, no matter how daft.
When technology works seamlessly without distracting the driver or impairing his judgement at all, it has to be good. There are some situations where the human brain is the best judge of when to do something and a tech application which mis-judges - even only slightly - can be a distraction. If the operation can be carried out manually by the driver with no mental or physical distraction to the driving then why create extra complication in the car? Self-parking and intermittent wipers are good, auto-on wipers can fail to come on at the right moment and so for me are potentially distracting.
There is the other issue of at what point does a driver start to lose concentration through lack of involvement and the resulting boredom? Today's cars handle well even with a driver who has no appreciation of mass distribution, tyre loadings or road friction, brakes are repeatedly powerful, steering is largely unaffected by suspension articulation, cabin temperatures are held steady no matter what the temperature outside, mechanical noise is absent at 90mph/140kph, the engine will not overheat up a long steep incline, headlights switch themselves on and off automatically, you choose your music according to your mood... etc etc.
All there is left to do is steer, brake, indicate and accelerate. The driver couldn't be more removed from the world around him, cars have evolved into a luxurious sitting room. When you had to turn up the heater as the outside temperature fell, you were made aware that the outside temperature had dropped, which could alter the road grip. Today you have little idea of what it is like outside the cacoon of your own little controlled micro-climate, speed is a number on a dial, airbags are ready to explode and prevent you from harm should it all go wrong - this is in many ways a good thing, but is there a danger we are so removed from reality and so molly-coddled that we are lulled into a false sense of security and a stupor?
Should there be a robot arm to pick up a tissue and wipe your nose, scratch your bottom or slap your face to improve your concentration if your eagleeyes wander to a pretty girl or fail to check the mirrors every few seconds? I think this would make more sense than a computer to switch the wipers on and off.
I was encouraging people to question whether the manufacturers' sales blurb is really as imperative as many think - whether automatic locking doors, wide tyres and auto this that and the other is really more important than a well-designed car maintained in tip-top order. Manufacturers know that rather than fitting a quality set of shock absorbers - which would improve safety no end both actively and passively but which are expensive - there is more 'prestige' and profit in fitting the latest electronic gizmo like auto-on windscreen wipers.
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Clearing up misunderstanding: In my country, a front windscreen defogger is an electric element in the glass which allows the driver to set off on an icy morning perhaps 3 minutes before he otherwise would - and will perhaps be in such a haste that side windows and lights are not cleared of ice and snow, which is very dangerous. I see this all the time in Britain, the screen is cleared but because no effort has been involved on the driver's part, nothing else has been cleared. Dangerous. Ventilated air to the windscreen is common to all cars here, so once under way, a windscreen will not mist up. You/we are at cross-purposes, I was referring to a once-only windscreen clearing. A misted up rear window isn't ideal, but we have side mirrors, so rearward vision is still easy.
The point I was making was that rather than set off three minutes sooner in bad weather, to have a car in good mechanical condition/well designed makes more sense than electrical luxuries - and that luxuries such as a front screen defogging element may lead to laziness such as leaving lights and side windows blocked.
There is perhaps something lost in the English - I wasn't forgetting that in an accident you stop because you hit something.
I said, "
if you are going to stop quicker than your brakes can manage", -
ie if you crash.