quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:

When I was teaching my last two kids to drive it was very reassuring to see them signal lane change and check blind spot and I could just look in their mirror to see the blind spot indicator. That is good stuff. And 5he rear warning for parking lots I can’t believe anybody would not want that. It’s completely unobtrusive until it warns you about the car you couldn’t see yet know matter how much you were craning your neck.

Drive your car. Let the stuff HELP you. Not vice versa.

I disagree - if the blind spot monitor is on, then assume that someone is there. But just because the monitor light is off doesn't mean it's safe to change lanes.

I 'teach' that if the light is on, heed it. If the light is off, rely on visual confirmations only.

Your aren’t reading for comprehension or my writing skills suck or both. Lol. I said they signal then they check their blind spot. I check the blind spot indicator to back them up. Without it I either have to continually check or just trust that their look over their shoulder worked. New drivers lots of times do the motion but don’t really check. The blind spot indicator gives me in the passenger seat a bit of assurance that their check worked.

To be clear I didn’t teach them to use the blind spot indicator as their blind spot check. I taught them to visually clear the space, I used the electronic feature from pax seat as a backup. One of my daughters cars doesn’t even have the feature.

A couple years ago, I rented a Toyota Corolla. Nice little car but loaded with all the nanny systems. The sensors were front mounted and I was driving in the snow. When the sensors became snow covered, I understood what it was like during Pearl Harbor. The car went nuts, with all kinds of alarms, dash warnings and reduced performance.
Get out of the car. Brush snow from grille. Rinse and repeat.
Doesnt it snow in Japan?
My new Durango has a rear camera you can turn on from the dash. I like it. You can watch people behind you pick their nose, text / yak on their phones, smack their kids, put on makeup and pick their teeth. Great piece of tech!

I grew up driving a clutch, one rear-view mirror, (usually) one driver's side mirror, and a foot switch for dimming the headlights. I never had any problems drifting into other lanes, coming up too close on another's bumper and can still parallel park without assistance.

As I've said for years, "If you can't improve the mechanicals, change the experience." I turn off any tablet displays, "eco" modes, and assistive driving in any car I drive, favoring a nice, Spartan driving experience rather than a rolling sofa.

My vehicle doesn’t have any of that stuff but my daughters new Subaru has all those things.....and her insurance payment decreased by 2/3 as a result comparing to her old non-technology car....so, there’s one good thing I guess

2 out of my 3 have all this stuff. I like it but I don’t rely on it. Adaptive cruise is nice as is rear backup camera and warnings. The only thing I disable is the auto start-stop crap. I also have never used the auto park feature on my F150.

My new ride this past month has had all the new stuff "on". Gradually I've turn most of it "off"
Some are great little assists. Love hitch time with this set up.

quote:

backup camera and warnings.

They are nice, but would not be as necessary if you could see out the back of the car to begin with. Many "crossover" cars, in particular, have tiny and high-mounted rear windows. You can't see shit out of them without a camera. Even my own car (2009 Toyota Corolla sedan) has a high "bustle"-like deck lid that makes it hard to see out the rear. As well, the rearmost corners of the car are not visible even in my mirrors, a nuisance when trying to back into a tight spot.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,

quote:

Originally posted by italia:
My concern about this feature is whether all manufacturers' blind spot monitors actually recognize motorcycles.

Volkswagen’s does (2019 GTI). I’ve had several pass by on the interstate and it has picked up every one of them.
No adaptive cruise control on mine. I’ve had it on several rentals, and can’t stand it. Same for lane departure.

A short? jump into the future:

My first day using the new GM-AutoDriving Experience Car Service.

Location: Somewhere, Georgia
8:45 am. Accessed the GM-Car app on my iPhone24 to order a pickup at 9:15 am. Was advised that the closest available car would arrive between 9:30 – 9:45 am. Decided I would have to make the stop at the County Water location to drop off my payment on the way home from my wife’s doctor appointment, as well as the stop at the Post Office to drop off the snail mail payment to my Health Company or we won’t get to the Dr. office on time. Oh well, it really doesn’t matter I suppose.

9:42 am. The car arrived. It’s up on the cul-de-sac blowing its horn. The stinking thing won’t come down my 100 yard long driveway. My nearly crippled wife has to struggle up the darn driveway.

9:46 am. The blasted car just announced that it would leave in one minute if the passengers weren’t in the car by 9:47 am. I ran the last 20 yards up the driveway to open the door before the sorry car could abandon us. Thought I was going to have a heart attack, after all I’m 84 now. Ran 19 yards back down the driveway to help my wife the rest of the way up the drive.

9:48 am. The car just announced that if there was no passenger in the car by 9:48:30 am it would close the door and leave. We would be charged a $50 cancellation fee also. Again, I had to run another 5 yards up the drive and get in the car. Left the door open and hollered at wife to shuffle a little faster.

9:50 am. Wife reached the car just as red strobe lights began to flash along with audio warning that the doors were going to close. Grabbed wife and drug her into the car just as the door began to close. The car then asked us to verify the destination address I had entered on my iPhone24 when I ordered the pick-up. I verified the address. The car informed me that the distance to the destination was 45.1 miles and since it exceeded 45 miles there would be a $20 surcharge in addition to the $40 destination fee. Wonderful.

10:57 am. We arrived at the doctor office in Sandy Springs on the north side of Atlanta. 3 minutes to spare before her appointment time. Before I got out I questioned the car if it could wait for us until we were done at the doctor’s office. Car answered, “Yes, for a surcharge of $60 plus $1 per minute.” I said,
“Forget that crap” and we got out. Off the car went to get its next un-suspecting victim, oops, I mean customer.

12:13 pm. The wife finally comes back into the lobby after seeing the doctor and says, “I’m done. We can go now.” I open the GM-Car app and request another pick-up to take us home with a stop at the post office to drop off a letter in the drive through and a stop at the Water Company drive through to drop off a payment. The app states there will be a $20 surcharge since the distance will be 48.7 miles including the two additional stops, plus a $10 surcharge for each additional stop in addition to the $45 destination fee. The app states that the nearest car will arrive no later than 1:00 pm.
12:56 pm. The car arrives, we get in and we depart.

2:07 pm. We are arriving in Fayetteville, Georgia. I query the car to see if it can stop at the drive through at McDonalds to pick up a couple of Big Macs. Car replied, $10 surcharge. I said, “Forget it Jose, we’ll order a pizza when we get home.

2:14 pm. Arriving at Post Office. Car enters wrong entrance for the drive through and has to go around and come into the correct entrance. Thank God, there was no surcharge for making a second attempt!

2:28 pm. Arrived at the Water Company and dropped payment into the box.

2:43 pm. Arrived back home. Car tried to stop in the cul-de-sac. I told the car to get it’s a.., uh, I mean it’s derriere down that drive way or this would be the last time it went anywhere until it could be picked up by a driver-less tow truck. Dang, it worked, that stinking car immediately pulled down the drive way.

3:01 pm. The car is still trying to back out of the driveway. I’m standing in the front yard shaking my head and watching it. It finally makes it out, knocking my mail box down in the process. As it pulls away I pop two rounds into the trunk of the idiot car with my P239 .40 S&W.

3:32 pm. The pizza delivery car just left after bringing the Large Pepperoni Lover’s with extra pepperoni pizza. That car had no problem negotiating my drive way. I think it was a Ford.

3:34 pm. A County Sheriff’s Department deputy just stopped in. He was actually driving the Charger himself. He said there was no way they were using any of the autonomous patrol cars. Then he said he was there because a GM-AutoDrive car had reported some kind of damage at this address. I showed him the mail box lying on the ground and said the stupid car took 18 minutes to back out of my driveway and ran over the mail box in the process. Told him I had already called my lawyer to file a claim against GM. He wrote it all down and told me to have a nice day. I gave him a slice of pizza and thanked him. Then, just before he started to pull out he asked me, “By the way, do you happen to own a handgun?” I said, “I used to have one but it got lost in the middle of Lake Michigan 6 years ago when my jon boat capsized. He said, “Thanks, no problem.”

quote:

Originally posted by cgode:
My vehicle doesn’t have any of that stuff but my daughters new Subaru has all those things.....and her insurance payment decreased by 2/3 as a result comparing to her old non-technology car....so, there’s one good thing I guess

That tells us something, right there. Insurance companies rely on data, not opinion. The data must be telling the insurance companies that vehicles equipped with these driver assistance (emphasis on assistance) systems get into fewer accidents than vehicles without them.

To each his own, but excepting the lane-keep assistance feature which I understand can be annoying on some vehicles, and the PITA engine start/stop so-called feature, I don't get why one would turn off the various features of these systems, which, after all, only act as a second line of defense. (The first line of defense being an attentive driver.)

The rear camera is nice, since all new vehicles have limited the amount of rear visibility with the high hips safety mandate..

Do like the notice feature of lane assist that tells drivers there is something in the blind spot, I use it when riding my motorcycle, the little mirror light, to know that at least the car knows I"m passing it...

If I ever come in contact with the gentleman who developed 'active cruise control', I think I shall beat him about his head and shoulders severely. Every time I rent a car and cannot turn that 'feature' off all together (which is most of the time), I end up not using cruise control at all. IMO one of the all time dumbest inventions to ever be included in a car.

Wife's Highlander has the driving assist features. I was driving one weekend when an idiot texting and driving crossed the center line and swerved into our lane. I swerved to the far right side of the lane and the damn car steered us right back into the path of the oncoming car. Pulled harder and laid on the horn, causing the other driver to finally correct and move back into their lane. All that crap is turned off now. I will never buy another car where it cannot be turned off.

Timely post as I must soon replace my 12 y/o car.

I have an intense dislike for several thousand dollars worth of questionable electronics which I WILL turn off. Doesn't anyone make better model cars w/o them?

quote:

I swerved to the far right side of the lane and the damn car steered us right back into the path of the oncoming car.

This goes back to what I said earlier: they can't understand the intent of the driver. A warning, OK, but no car of mine is going to take over the driving for me. Speaking of warnings, I am quite annoyed by GM trucks with "butt buzzers" in the seats.