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Great news: 10 automakers to include automatic emergency braking on all new vehicles (US)
Let's hope the other manufacturers follow suite and this becomes a mandatory feature for all European cars too.
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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12 comments
Works up to 30mph. My car has it. You'd never rely on it to correct poor driving - for one you'd have to have balls of steel to do so, since it goes off so late before the point of no return, before coming to a very sharp stop.
If anything, drivers relying on it in the course of normal driving would cause more accidents due to sudden late braking all the time!
Some variants of the system are designed specifically to prevent pedestrian and cyclist collisions, even though most of the time it'll be avoiding low speed shunts (you'd hope!)
It doesn't absolve the driver of any responsibility to drive safely, legally or in the manufacturers eyes. It makes that very clear in manual.
Think of it like ABS, airbags and seat belts etc. Being pragmatic, humans are fallible, so until we have driverless cars (or there are no cars at all on our roads), things like this might just save your life. So I don't see what's not to like? The fact that some idiots will drive irresponsibly or unsafely, or that we need harsher penalties and enforcement of this is irrelevant (but of course, a given).
The technology will improve over time - lighter intermediate braking, higher speeds, better detection of hazards.
The downside of this is there will (temporarily) be a horrible middle zone where the technology doesn't work and people will be lulled into a false sense of security. Safety systems get better, drivers compensate and get worse.
I hope that one day non-autonomous vehicles will be banned from public roads, this would be a massive boost for cycling, no more close passes, no more cars pulling out from side junctions and not seeing you. No more tail-gating. And they should all be zero emission.
Definitely up there with anti lock disc brakes, dynamic stability control, anti skid road surfaces, windscreen wipers, better tyres, pedestrian impact protection, laminated windscreens, seat belts, airbags, cats eyes, and all the other stupid advances in automotive and road design that have so significantly improved road safety in the last 50 years. When all that's really needed is for people to just be a bit more careful and not have crashes.
Completely avoiding the REAL problem, they are only interested in selling more cars.
It seems to me that they are dealing with the problem - crappy drivers. And this is a step towards fully autonomous cars, a very useful step because it'll lead to better knowledge about how to implement these systems which will be an important part of autonomous cars.
Next up, all cars will have the ability to drive autonomously.
And later on, if the car detects the drivers road awareness level isn't high enough then the car takes control - for the rest of the journey.
I think these kinds of changes are inevitable, no more people with 12+ points on their driving licence being allowed to drive and it'd be easy to implement mandatory driving bans every time points are issued, for example at least 4 months ban for each point, minimum of a decade ban for 12 points.
Further into the future, cars could refuse to allow banned drivers to operate them!
No they are definitely NOT.
Why wait?
If your smartphone or sat-nav can identify speed camera sites as you approach then it can detect when you are in a 20 / 30 / 40 mph zone and beep if you go 3 mph over the limit. Easy peasy.
For average speed zones they have roadside detectors that read a number plate/VIN and check the time it takes to reach the next detector. No need for plod or safety van at the roadside. You could have a Strava-like fly-by with reg number of the twat that forced you into a ditch, as happened to a colleague driving home from work recently. Car written off, she was seriously shaken up and lucky to be in one piece. Not the first incident I know of on that stretch either.
If cars can have reversing cameras why not have dashboard cams by default? We'll have evidence of bad driving, whether by the occupant or another vehicle. No getting off because the CPS can't prove the light was on red.
Everyone loves talking about technology, new gadgets and "the internet of things" yet all the above could be done to make the roads safer by making drivers behave if the will was there.
The adverts for these are ridiculous,you shouldn't rely on these systems.
Also most don't pick up items as small as bikes or pedestrians, as it could confuse them with street furniture.
Seems unlikely, not least because the cars would also want to avoid crashing into street furniture.
Have a think about that one.
there are a couple of car adverts out in the UK at the moment that make a thing of the auto-braking. Or rather they make a thing that its totally ok not to notice A GREAT BIG STATIONARY F*IN TRUCK AHEAD because robo-brakes will save the day!
So what happens when the tech fails whose to blame? The driver for inattention or the car maker? What drivers need to do is drive the vehicle and pay attention to DRIVING and not the phone, ipad, and any other piece of tech they happen to be playing with. Trust me I've seen all these being used by people driving along and not paying attention to whats going on around them.
Both, the driver still has a legal obligation to drive safely, if they want to sue the manufacturer then they might be able to do so, but I'm guessing there will be a clause saying it's not perfect and you should be driving safely.
And anyway, seat belts and air-bags can fail but it's the fact that they save lives which is important.