Cars, motorcycles and safety

[Chester]

 I  saw a Volvo commercial last night that had some sort of automatic brakes while you are in traffic. I guess if you are not paying enough attention to your driving while in stop and go traffic, the car will automatically brake it self before hitting the car in front of you. WOW! You have got to be kidding me.

 I see this kind of safety on all kinds of vehicles. All of it is usually focused for the "bad" driver. Meaning the person who really shouldn't have a drivers licence. This is not just in cars, we are starting to see it in the motorcycle world as well with air bags being applied to bikes.

 My question is, where does it stop?

 Wouldn't all that money being spent to make vehicles safer, be better well spent to "MAKE" people better drivers or motorcycle riders. The "better drivers" also means "Safer" drivers, riders. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for new technology. But with all these new "safer" vehicles I think people start paying less attention to their driving with the thought in the back of their head that "the car will handle it for me" or if  "I do get into an accident I'll be OK ,this car has all kinds of safety for me".

 All this new "tech" for safer vehicles being applied, but yet the basic DMV drivers hand book, or the DMV driving test hasn't changed much in 50 years. This kind of thinking just seems EXTREMELY backwards for me.

 Like I said I'm all up for making vehicles safer, but shouldn't we be spending the time in training people to become better "safer" drivers or motorcycle riders first?

 It kinda scares me that in some cases in our world, Technology is taking the place of Educating.

 Rant over! Procede.

[et]

All cars will eventually have this "automatic braking" feature. And then the few anti cellphone/texting while driving laws that exist will be repealed.
Just another case of people not being held accountable for their actions.

Maybe someday we'll hear this in court: "Your Honor I didn't cause the accident; my car did it all by it's self."

[JIMLARCH]

The next step in making our cars, bikes, better.  

[ZED]

If everyone was strapped to the front of their vehicle like an Aztec sacrifice with nothing to protect them from their mistakes, they would probably pay attention to what was around them when driving.

I also think that adding features like this automatic braking is really solving the symptom not the problem.  But you won't hurt the feelings of the car by adding technology to it where as you will hurt the feelings of the human if they are confronted as being a bad driver.  Humans take offense very easily even with the truth.  So, since North American society is all about "Me" we can't go and let peoples feelings get hurt.    

[dm_gsxr]

I think it'd be interesting. Have a car equipped with a GPS, sensors to activate lights when needed, RFIDs in speed limit signs and electronic sensors in the road to keep you at the designated speed limit, sensors to activate brakes or gas when appropriate, sensors to see where other objects are on the road so you can brake or swerve, window sensors to block out the sun or inappropriate scenes.

It would virtually eliminate road rage.
Traffic jams would cease.
Rubbernecking would cease.
Cops would be able to investigate crimes.

Utopia.



Carl

[DataDan]

Does stuff like that really make driving safer, or does it just give people more latitude to drive carelessly--faster or less attentively--while maintaining a degree of safety they find comfortable?

Smithsonian Magazine looks at this question in a recent article about the invention of the 3-point seatbelt, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary:

But before we break out the champagne substitute to honor the three-point seat belt's demi-centennial, we might also consider the possibility that some drivers have caused accidents precisely because they were wearing seat belts.

This counterintuitive idea was introduced in academic circles several years ago and is broadly accepted today. The concept is that humans have an inborn tolerance for risk—meaning that as safety features are added to vehicles and roads, drivers feel less vulnerable and tend to take more chances. The feeling of greater security tempts us to be more reckless. Behavioral scientists call it "risk compensation."

[county]

I've seen that Volvo commercial and I think it's a great idea.  I've been driving a real long time and that feature woulda kept me from hitting a coupla things.

I think the automatic feature I like best, however, is the automatic door locks.  I was very careless about locking my car doors for a long time.  And now car-jacking has gone way up in Memphis.

As for that Aztec comment, that's kinda like riding a bike.

[Chester]

Does stuff like that really make driving safer, or does it just give people more latitude to drive carelessly--faster or less attentively--while maintaining a degree of safety they find comfortable?

Exactly!

 

The concept is that humans have an inborn tolerance for risk—meaning that as safety features are added to vehicles and roads, drivers feel less vulnerable and tend to take more chances. The feeling of greater security tempts us to be more reckless. Behavioral scientists call it "risk compensation."

 Agreed!

[Kootenanny]

Wouldn't all that money being spent to make vehicles safer, be better well spent to "MAKE" people better drivers or motorcycle riders.
.......

It kinda scares me that in some cases in our world, Technology is taking the place of Educating.

Well, as others have mentioned, that would mean asking people to focus on what they're doing, and possibly even take responsibility for their actions.  In present day North America? Hah!