Automobiles Bells And Whistles - do they make better drivers?

[MossRoad]

That was quite a drive Moss. did you get tired?
I did it when I was 21 and I sure was glad to get back home in my own bed.

We took an 11 month old baby to Ickesburg, Pa. from Ankeny, Ia. in a '73 AMC Gremlin to meet his grandpa over the 4 day Thanksgiving Day weekend. It was about a 2000 mile round trip.

If you remember, the national speed limit in '73 was 55mph.

Not trying to one-up-ya, just remembering how tiring it was when I was young. I'd hate to have to do it now.

No. I didn't get tired. The drive was quite enjoyable. In fact, we stopped once about 2 hours out of Stillwater to return some coffee rental , then again somewhere around Six Flags near St. Louis for gas and some sliders from Arby's. So really, only about 20. minutes total in stops on a 12.5 hour drive. Just didn't feel the need to stop and stretch my legs. The car was that comfortable.

I'm glad I didn't have to make it in my '93 Suburban with no cruise control. :laughing:

Back in the late 80's we drove out to Denver non-stop once. 16 hours. 55mph. In a '83 Cavalier. Yikes! :laughing: So I'm right there with ya on the been-there-done-that don't want to do it again. :thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

Most accidents are from a normally alert driver loosing concentration for an instant. A distraction often less than a second causes an accident. Every human gets distracted why not have a helper that gives you an edge?

Exactly. :thumbsup:

 

[Garandman]

Our 2014 Outback had all these features: the Subaru forward-look system is called EyeSight.

When that car got totaled by a texting driver, went back to the previous Gen.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Humans are almost always about habit. Concentration is a habit. Remove the mecessity for that concentration and the human get's out of that habit all of the time.

 

[MossRoad]

At my last employer they had a program and went through automating lots of machinery, adding safety guards, light curtains, deadman switches, etc... injuries dropped dramatically.

So while I agree with you, I also like to see the safety features added.

 

[Industrial Toys]

That kind of suggests to me that the workers were not very focused on their work. Understandable but problematic. I am bored to tears when driving a couple of hours.

 

[bigtiller]

That was quite a drive Moss. did you get tired?
I did it when I was 21 and I sure was glad to get back home in my own bed.

We took an 11 month old baby to Ickesburg, Pa. from Ankeny, Ia. in a '73 AMC Gremlin to meet his grandpa over the 4 day Thanksgiving Day weekend. It was about a 2000 mile round trip.

If you remember, the national speed limit in '73 was 55mph.

Not trying to one-up-ya, just remembering how tiring it was when I was young. I'd hate to have to do it now.

I just remembered why I was tired, I missed a nights sleep.
I got off work at midnight and took off. Drove all night and all the next day and got there about an hour to late for supper.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Since I backed into a snow bank, the gimmicky back up assist has not worked for years on my GMC. Yet something in my brain still tells me I have something watching out for me when I backup.

 

[KennyG]

I don't have all the new features yet, but I really like them, especially the blind spot warnings and backup cameras and warnings. I think it's safe to say the features will increase safety but not as much as they should. Humans are inherently flawed and misjudge risk. A certain number of people will take advantage of the technology to get lax in their behavior. Take the Tesla drivers who take naps for example.

I don't think we should expect the technology to be perfect. I had a Peugeot on a short term lease in Europe that had a lane keeping system. It was great until I got to southern France where the lanes were narrower than the car. The steering wheel almost constantly vibrated until I figured out how to turn it off.

 

[Oaktree]

Back in the late 80's we drove out to Denver non-stop once. 16 hours. 55mph. In a '83 Cavalier. Yikes! :laughing: So I'm right there with ya on the been-there-done-that don't want to do it again. :thumbsup:

I had a '90 Cavalier that was very comfortable, decent on gas too.

Probably the worst road trip was in a 90s-vintage corrola (belonged to a lady friend). THE most uncomfortable, unpleasant vehicle I've ever been in.

I don't have all the new features yet, but I really like them, especially the blind spot warnings and backup cameras and warnings. I think it's safe to say the features will increase safety but not as much as they should.

Or maybe the automakers could just go back to building vehicles you can actually see out of. I understand that the high beltline and generally tiny windows are due to all the airbags they're required to have, but I still hate it. Backup cams can be useful in some situations, but every one I've ever seen washes out in daylight so as to be pretty useless.