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Modern cars are rubbish (for cyclists and pedestrians)

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  • December 17, 2018 at 9:42 am #29203
    kil0ran

    Had the pleasure of driving a Merc C-Class over the weekend. I say drive but it was little more than turn the wheel every once in a while for 500 miles. So many buttons, so much automation, so much to distract you.

    The only redeeming feature was that the ride was fantastic and the seats extremely comfortable.

    Visibility was atrocious – privacy glass for the rear windows and windscreen, and huge A & B pillars. B pillar and roof line in particular was so badly-placed relative to the driver that it was almost impossible to see clearly when turning right from a side road. It was also possible to set the driving position so low that I could barely see above the belt-line, and I’m almost 6 foot. Made it tricky to judge gaps and passing distances relative to parked cars. I’ve also worked out why you see cars with gouges in rear doors – reversing cameras only deal with the back of the car, not the sides.

    From a safety perspective I liked using the speed limiter (important, because it was so quiet you had very little idea of how fast you were wafting along) but I’d imagine it just encourages drivers to drive at the posted limit all the time, rather than considering road conditions. No other active/passive safety features on this particular car because it was a hire car.

    It seems that manufacturers are effectively selling an interior/lifestyle choice rather than a driving tool these days, the car was completely uninvolving to drive, even on Sport+ mode (firmer suspension plus comedy throttle blips as you roll up to stop lines FFS)

    On the plus side I now have absolutely no desire to own such a technological marvel.

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  • December 17, 2018 at 1:35 pm #932997
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    Mungecrundle

    My car has self dimming

    My car has self dimming headlights which quite often get confused by lights not attached to vehicles and even by reflected light from road signs. I don’t use that mode.

    It also has adaptive cruise control which is actually rather good, but I wouldn’t trust it 100% as it just doesn’t seem to look far enough up the road and will quite happily accelerate you into a position where it is forced to disengage and hand back control.

    However it does have a whole host of hidden tech from antilock brakes to electronic stability and traction control which have been around for years and work perfectly. I’m pretty sure that I’ll own a fully autonomous and safe self driving car within the next 20 years.

    December 17, 2018 at 1:33 pm #932995
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    CygnusX1

    I’ve largely got over my

    I’ve largely got over my petrolhead emotions of my youth, but there are still a few cars that I carry a flame for, the Lancia Delta Integrale in full rally spec being one of them.

    No use in Manchester traffic though. Off road, I would probably stuff it into a tree on the first greasy bend so would be joining you in the queue for angel wings.

     

    December 17, 2018 at 1:25 pm #932993
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    Anonymous

    I would literally kill for

    I would literally kill for that. Myself probably about 2 minutes after getting in.

    Those things are worth daft money now. If I was a man of endless resource I’d do the shopping in a group B car though. Metro 6r4 would probably be supermarket friendly.

    December 17, 2018 at 1:19 pm #932991
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    CygnusX1
    Yorkshire wallet wrote:
    Put some extra lamps on and this is about as far as cars needed to evolve.

    https://images.honestjohn.co.uk/imagecache/file/width/640/media/5693078/Sunbeam-Lotus.png

    Something like this?

     

    December 17, 2018 at 1:03 pm #932989
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    Anonymous

    Put some extra lamps on and

    Put some extra lamps on and this is about as far as cars needed to evolve.

    https://images.honestjohn.co.uk/imagecache/file/width/640/media/5693078/Sunbeam-Lotus.png

    December 17, 2018 at 12:47 pm #932987
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    hawkinspeter
    cyclesteffer wrote:
    I went to a presentation night at the University of the West of England. They’ve been involved with lots of robotics and automation. There was a guy doing a presentation on a lot of the challenges faced by driverless cars.

    One of the ones he said was a major problem, with driverless cars, is when the car asks the driver to take back control as it cannot cope with a situation up ahead.

    He said that they’ve found out that people are completely unprepared to take back control of the car.

    I guess its a bit like when you’ve been driving for hours on a motorway, and then stop to take over from your partner. It takes you a while to kind of flip your brain back into driving mode.

    Yet with autonomous cars, the car might be asking you to take back control within a second, and they’ve found out people are completely unprepared for it, when the car has been driving for a couple of hours.

    Autonomous cars that rely on having a driver are a complete waste of time and probably more dangerous than just letting drivers drive. At least if you’re actively driving there’s a chance that you’ll be paying attention, but to expect a non-driver to suddenly become alert and responsive to the situation is just laughable.

    December 17, 2018 at 12:34 pm #932985
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    Stef Marazzi

    I went to a presentation

    I went to a presentation night at the University of the West of England. They’ve been involved with lots of robotics and automation. There was a guy doing a presentation on a lot of the challenges faced by driverless cars.

    One of the ones he said was a major problem, with driverless cars, is when the car asks the driver to take back control as it cannot cope with a situation up ahead.

    He said that they’ve found out that people are completely unprepared to take back control of the car.

    I guess its a bit like when you’ve been driving for hours on a motorway, and then stop to take over from your partner. It takes you a while to kind of flip your brain back into driving mode.

    Yet with autonomous cars, the car might be asking you to take back control within a second, and they’ve found out people are completely unprepared for it, when the car has been driving for a couple of hours.

    December 17, 2018 at 11:28 am #932983
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    davel

    This is why I stopped

    This is why I stopped watching Top Gear years ago.

    Clarkson (before he completely outed himself as the caricature twat that the world sees now) would witter on about all the technology, and berate cars that didn’t have all this standard supercar gadgetry. So it’s a car gadget programme being presented by someone who doesn’t understand gadgets?

    Then he’d get in a Ford GT that had none of it* and wet his grandad jeans about how it was proper driving. So it’s a proper driving programme that spends too long on gadgets? Or a car-based light entertainment programme that stopped being funny when the presenters became the joke?

    Driving round France early this summer, I did about 150 miles with uninterrupted cruise control set at the speed limit. I nearly fell asleep and then bricked it when I had to find my pedals again to brake because a lorry was overtaking another lorry on a two-laner – you know, standard driving conditions. Family in the car, too close for comfort, cruise control off for the rest of the fortnight. Forgetting you’re driving isn’t a great way to drive.

     

    *His own GT went back as soon as he got it – he had the same success with the alarm and immobiliser as I’d expect my non-driving mum to have.

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