Car safety features.

welshwizard645 said:
Sometimes the engineers won, otherwise the whole automotive industry landscape today would be different. Saabs would be running 2-strokes well into the 1970s and even later (the V4 project was done under immense secrecy) and many of us wouldn't be driving 2-litre turbos today (another project done away from the eyes of Saab-Scania management).

Many of the useful safety passive features came from Trollhattan (even Volvo admitted how tough Saabs were).
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I was being sarcastic.
 
Bristolian said:
I agree with what you said but, and it's a big but, it is unacceptable that technology is imposed on drivers when it is so clearly flawed*. This requirement was rushed though by the EU who just wouldn't accept that car manufacturers needed more time to get the technology to a standard where it was fit for purpose. Added to that, the abysmal state of not only our roads (e.g. potholes, worn out markings, criss-crossing lane markings, etc.) but of our road signage here in the UK makes failures inevitable.

*: I make my assessment based on five years of working with motor manufacturers trying to make these systems work in the real world. They are superb on the test tracks but leave a whole lot to be desired on public roads.
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Quite often completed roadworks leave behind the reduced speed limit sign as well.

Re. potholes, do self driving features/cars avoid them?
 
They apparently don't make much effort to avoid bikes so why would they bother with potholes?
 
Nod said:
They apparently don't make much effort to avoid bikes
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Is that all the time, or only when it detects a cycle lane not being used?...
 
A few years ago I had a modified Focus ST (2.5 5 pot Turbo) pulling just under 300bhp and loads of torque. It was "fun" but the driver aids were essential. It would wheel spin in 1st, 2nd & 3rd, and pull the steering all over the place. Anther guy in the owners club said he could drive his similar car with everything turned off. In Wales one damp weekend he wrote it off, mine was fine....
Some driver aids are necessery on the roads. The only time I would turn them off was on a track day.
 
My brother who sells high end new cars turns off lane assist and speed detection, as they cause problems when driving in congested areas and you have to cross the centre line. The speed detection is now being fooled by prople putting up their own signs similar to speed signs in some places (usually saying 10mph or even 5 mph) to try and slow down traffic in villages.

My problem with any of this tech is A it adds cost, B it's more to go wrong, and C I dont want anything on my car that has control of breaking or steering. I have two IT people in my family and I know from experience computers can be relied upon to go wrong in the worst way at the worst time. Do I want that working the steering and brakes on my car? No, not flipping likely. ;)
 
Bristolian said:
*: I make my assessment based on five years of working with motor manufacturers trying to make these systems work in the real world. They are superb on the test tracks but leave a whole lot to be desired on public roads.
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In one office, where I worked as a contractor, someone had a notice pinned above their desk...

"it can be mission critical and delivered next year
or it can be important for the boss's bonus and delivered next week.
It can't be both!"​

:tumbleweed:
 
swanseamale47 said:
car that has control of breaking or steering. I have two IT people in my family and I know from experience computers can be relied upon to go wrong in the worst way at the worst time. Do I want that working the steering and brakes on my car? No, not flipping likely. ;)
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This part reminded me of the Eurofighter, which I believe is a deliberately unstable aircraft for that enhanced agility, so it needs all the electronics etc. However, should they fail I believe it is to be a very challenging task to glide it.
 
gman said:
Is that all the time, or only when it detects a cycle lane not being used?...
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Anything on 2 wheels, including motorbikes.
 
Apparently so.
 
gman said:
Quite often completed roadworks leave behind the reduced speed limit sign as well.

Re. potholes, do self driving features/cars avoid them?
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Apologies for not responding sooner but I haven't been online much recently due to recovery from an eye operation.

In answer to your question re potholes; systems that use LIDAR sensors are able to pick up the size, shape and position of potholes very well, generally better than a human driver does and avoidance is then down to response times vs speed and amount of deviation needed to avoid (linked with other road and traffic details of course). Systems reliant on cameras are less able to see potholes and typically don't manage to avoid them.
 
Bristolian said:
Apologies for not responding sooner but I haven't been online much recently due to recovery from an eye operation.

In answer to your question re potholes; systems that use LIDAR sensors are able to pick up the size, shape and position of potholes very well, generally better than a human driver does and avoidance is then down to response times vs speed and amount of deviation needed to avoid (linked with other road and traffic details of course). Systems reliant on cameras are less able to see potholes and typically don't manage to avoid them.
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Interesting, I wasn't sure if they would be fully developed yet for avoidance, I do remember some special pothole detecting vehicle that is used.

What cars have this LIDAR pothole detector and avoidance system?
 
the first thing i do when driving my wifes car is turn the lane assistance off it's the most annoying thing in the car
a lot of the technology in new cars has some great potential but it's not fully matured there's still a lot of room for improvement
even emergency braking has it's problems iv'e had the car brake when going round a reasonably steep right hand bend and you meet a vehicle ( usually a lorry ) going in the opposite direction in its own lane and the car slams on the brakes for no reason, our last 2 BMW's did this and our latest toyota does too
active cruise is a wonderful technology but iv'e had that brake for no good reason and it can be quite savage about it

the biggest niggle is slow manoeuvring in tight spaces
if you get close to something which i do on purpose getting the car into the yard ( it's a bit of a tight squeeze ) it try's to catapult you through the window as it slams the brakes on and kills the throttle
it can be quite unexpected at times and causes various amounts of bad language

my car on the other hand just about manages blind spot warning

i don't mind the safety technology that cars have today as long as i have the option to disable it if i want to
 
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