How safe is too safe? NHTSA may impose more safety features

As somewhat of a "purist" for driving, I'm against these increasing safety features. No doubt these make cars safer, but I wonder if the same results can be duplicated with an educated-drivers culture/population à la Europe (esp. Germany) and still maintain driver autonomy over the car?

Manufacturers should not need to increase costs or consumers needn't pay extra because legislators don't have the guts to go after the stupid drivers and their dangerous habits. Also, there should be an easy switch to turn the features off.

My brother's car has the lane departure warning system.. useless and expensive option imo (only works on nice and smooth roads with clean lane markers). If you take breaks every 100 miles/2hrs, drive with plenty of sleep, and pay attention to the road then you shouldn't need a computer telling you what to do.

If you need to be helped so much that you need an automatic headlight option, automatic braking option, automatic wiper option... automatic driving option??

It's too incredibly easy getting a license in the US. Make it tougher/expensive and you'll have fewer and better drivers: drivers who don't need these excessive features.

 

Several high-end cars (Lexus, I think?) already have the automatic braking - we haven't had issues with cars braking in middle of the highway as far as I know. That said, I'd be curious to see the impact of those systems in the cars out there and if they've reduced crash damage.

This is no different than requiring airbags. At first, they were optional and expensive, became popular, got cheaper, and then were required. I'd guess we're talking 5+ years away still, so the technology will probably be relatively cheap and widely available by then.

 

Do away with those seat belts, airbags, anti-lock brakes, and side impact protection while you're at it and let's let natural selection do it's job unhindered.

Just keep the A/C.

 

would be more in favor of punishing idiots who get in wrecks. That might do better to keep them off the road also helping the environment.

tax the crap out of them to keep a license. Not a traffic ticket but a state tax based upon wrecks.

 

I would be very interested in knowing how the auto braking systems have performed and their effectiveness at avoiding collisions.

The concern that I have is that it is a mechanical devise, and as such it can and will malfunction. When a devise of this type malfunctions, the result has a good chance of being lethal.

Need more data.

 

There are plenty of cars on the road with this technology out there now. Have you heard of any kind of increase in car jackings to Volvos?

 

I don't buy the car jacking argument but there would have to be a huge % of them out there to make your argument.

 

What percentage of vehicles on the road have this technology? If it is required on all vehicles and all vehicles then have it, it becomes well known to car jackers and figuring out ways to trigger the mechanism become more profitable.

 

But it seems like police could also trigger it to prevent get aways, or high speed chases.

 

Yeah...by stopping in front of the vehicle. That would be the same way that a would be carjacker could stop the car. It cuts both ways.

 

Not sure the %. But cars in the US go through ridiculous amounts of testing before you can put a technology like this in place. I'm pretty positive it's smart enough not to accidentally activate as that would be a safety hazard in itself. And all it does is apply some pressure to the brakes to reduce the impact of an imminent crash. It's not like it shuts down the whole car and makes you stop.

 

I don't think we've reached the "too safe" level yet, given how many road fatalities we still have. Maybe these technologies will help, but they don't seem promising to me. Tools that take away driver control don't seem like a good idea. But, maybe they are.