Slashdot Mirror
Amazing Things Your Automobile Can't Do
dslmodem submitted this NYT story on nifty automobile technology that isn't coming to the United States. The report suggests that legal liability is a significant reason for not offering various driver-distracting options in the U.S.
If you're going to drive an urban assault vehicle, then get off the phone & keep your eyes on the road.
I haven't read the article, but I assume American cars won't have ejection seats, machine guns and rocket launchers hidden with a flip of a switch like those British Aston Martins have.
"Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everyone else mirror it." -- Linus Torvalds
I'm GLAD that those features aren't available in the US. I don't need the added worry that they guy in the car next to me is reading slashdot, or trying to keep up with the lyrics on some karaoke song!
I would like to be able to watch tv or other video when stuck in traffic. Having the video system turn off once the car starts moving over 3mph sounds like a great idea. But, here in the US, you can sue anybody for anything and stand a good chance of winning so I understand the car makers reticence.
http://www.busyweather.com/
"This device automatically parks the car, maneuvering the Prius backward and into the space. To activate it, the driver first pulls alongside the forward vehicle, then drags a picture of a flag marker and parking triangle on the car's touchscreen display, until they are positioned where the vehicle should wind up."
I really want my car to do 1 thing, get me from point A to point B, reasonably efficiently and safely. A modicum of comfort does not hurt either.
I hate sigs.
Let's just hope that car blow jobs aren't in that list ;)
One thing that is very cool that they have in Europe is 'TMC' -- radio stations will broadcast traffic alerts on where there is bad traffic. This will automagically update the route computers in most cars' naviation systems to find an alternate route around the traffic jam. No-one in the states has it, but it is standard with all VW/Audi/Skoda/Seat NAV+ units in the EU. Absolutely shameful.
The tort system does need revision, but the only proposal I've seen so far gives relief exclusively to corporations. For tort reform to work, it will have to include:
1) eliminating slap suits,
2) limiting damages that individuals must pay to corporations (what's good for the goose, etc), and
3) shifting the burden of proof from the defendant to the plaintiff (same as for criminal cases).
Then I can support tort reform.
Otherwise tort reform is yet another corporate bailout.
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
Here's something amazing my car doesn't do...it doesn't wrap itself around a tree while I try to check my email and read a fax at the same time.
From the article:
"In many vehicles nowadays, you can check your e-mail, view Web sites, even watch television, from the comfort of your driver's seat."
How can't it be a bad thing if US drivers start watching porn on the TV/web while talking on the cell phone while driving and listening to loud music?
I would think that even if these options started to appear in the US, that insurance for vehicles equipped with them would be expensive.
positioned where the vehicle should wind up
And we all know that this is 100% repeatable, don't we...
- - - - - - - - - - -
I am a programmer. I am paid to produce syntax not grammar. Deal with it.
My collision and comprehensive coverage are friggin high enough. Keep this distrating technology away or face higher premiums.
Darn it, look at all the cool toys we could have if we would just take some personal responsibility for our actions.
I ride a motorcycle and spend enough time watching out for idiots talking on their cell phone who wander over into my lane. The last thing I need is someone singing a Jessica Simpson song turning me into roadkill. You are driving an automobile and are putting other lives as risk. You should not be eating a big mac while talking on the phone while you are crusing down the highway at 75mph.
Lets start with those damn ultra-bright lights. Holy cow are those super annoying. I'm not even driving but walking down the streets with those suckers turned on is enough blind me.
Sunny Dubey
And another thing, I could have sworn that it was illegal in the UK to have a TV playing within view of the driver.
Drill baby drill - on Mars
Like fuel efficency, maybe? That *for sure* won't be coming to the US anytime soon!
From the article...
---NY Times quote---
While the system seems ideal for congested streets like New York's, "we have no plans for the U.S.," said Jon Bucci, corporate manager for advanced technology at Toyota Motor Sales. "This is a very litigious society."
---NY Times quote---
So, to recap: the fact that the auto-parallel park will continue parking even if a 3 year old steps in the way is not a reason to withhold the feature. No, the threat of a lawsuit is the reason.
Seems to me like this is a classic example of why US lawsuits are a good thing (tm). They're preventing companies from rolling out products that could run over little kids without allowing the operator to override.
Support a few technologists in Washington.
A friend went to visit me and thought those features were really cool because he had a Jetta but didn't have any of those.
I don't see how VW would get sued for having those features. But I think in North America, the car makers think we don't care about knowing mpg, outside temp or having a rain sensor as much as like having a bigger engine and faster car. It's about preference.
Personally I don't agree with how car makers perceive NA market. My friend thought he would rather have a smaller engine but better features. He prefer the Bora to his Jetta. I think there is a good market for car that are not powerful but more high tech.
So what happens when you hit a bomb? Does the car crash into the vehicle in front of you?
10. Automatically incinerate Kerry or Bush bumper stickers placed on them.
9. Go to Hill Valley whenever the car reaches 88 mph.
8. Make really cool "putta-pa-put-put-putter-pa-pa-put-pa" bubbly sounds when Fred McMurray drives it through the air.
7. Make Steve Jobs shit his pants.
6. Not enough room on the hood for the Trump logo.
5. Why won't anyone invent the full-windshield TFT display so we can play Doom 3 while we drive? Come on now!
4. Annoy David Hasselhoff.
3. Get 400 miles to the gallon (we KNOW Exxon-Mobile has warehouses filled with home-garage built super carburetors).
2. where's the middle headlights??? Too bad Tucker is dead.
1. "Take out the trash".
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Just about the time these technologies are officially outlawed, auto auto-pilot will become widely available. We'll have nothing better to do during our auto-commutes than pick our noses, floss or gawk at attractive female commuters....slightly less dangerously than we do currently.
http://www.techyrants.com
I just want the damned navigation system for my car. It's available in Europe and even Canada, but GM has decided that they'd rather sell OnStar in the US because it has a recurring revenue model, and that navigation systems interfere with OnStar premium subscriptions, so they decided not to offer the feature in the US.
The one thing I *don't* want is anything that requires a monthly fee. I'm sure I could come up with some choice words about where they can stick their recurring revenue.
d00d,I just r00t3d y0ur C4r
or even worse...
Road Rage takes on a whole new meaning after the first couple of "hot teen xxx site" "enlarge your %RND_BODYPART%" spams
No thanks, I'm happy with my handleld mapping GPS. If I really need to get on the net that badly while I'm traveling, I can always use that and the laptop to wardrive for a convenient unencrypted wap. (just kidding*)
*sort of
The Digital Sorceress
This strongest point I got from reading the article (Yes, I actually RTFA!) is that auto makers, and probably many other companies, are hesitant to introduce new stuff to the US market, whether we need it or not or if it's stupid or not, for fear of being sued.
Our country has turned into a lawsuit machine. It's become too easy for Bubba to sue S&W and Coors for shooting himself in the foot after downing a 12-er or Coors Light. Who knows - he'd probably win.
IIRC someone in the UK came up with the mathmatic
formula for parallel parking a car perfectly.
i'm pretty sure that everything in math is repeatable.
link here
upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
Sigh... I guess i have to get my commuting pr0n from dvds and not the web :-(
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
Also it can run over any annoying kids and soccer balls if they get in the way of your urban assault vehicle. Guess you don't get sued for that in Europe or Japan. Damn US legal system!
People in Europe or Japan spend most of their time crawling in traffic anyway, in their toaster size cars with 700 cc engines. I *like* that about Europe and Japan. Isn't there a nationwide 50 mph / 80 kph speed limit in Japan?
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
Any that are still and haven't blown up already are probably lemons anyways.
No Comment.
Has the lawsuit taken on some of the roll of a lottery in the US? Winning a lawsuit becomes like winning the Jackpot.
In the old days, you worked hard, and you got ahead. IMHO, that's no longer true, for the most part. You usually can't get ahead without working hard, but 'merely' hard work is no longer sufficient. More and more, it also takes connections an luck - being in the right place at the right time with the right idea. Furthermore, simply knowing how to build the better mousetrap isn't enough either, you have to also know how to market that mousetrap, or at least license its IP.
All in all, I suspect the American Dream is getting farther and farther away, for most Americans. Is the increasing number of state-run lotteries because of legal relaxations, or is it because more people are giving up on earning their way up, and figure their odds are about as good gambling their way up? Consider lawsuits in that light...
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
One functionality on Mercedes-Benz vehicles that has really changed brake technologies is Sensotronic Brakes (SBC). Many of the features of SBC have not been brought over and activated in the United States such as "Traffic Jam Assist" and "Soft Stop." These items help both to prevent fatigue and increase comfort, resulting in less stressful (and more relaxing) driving.
More about year 2003 SBC technology
Defending oneself in court takes time and money and prevents oneself from moving forward.
Being able to sue for any cause/action comes with higher costs to everyone.
I don't know about you guys, but if I had a plasma screen, GPS enabled, internet connected whatsamadoozit in my car it would be gone in about, oh, one night of parking near the damn section 8 housing up the street.
Actually, TVs are illegal in the front seat in Japanese cars. If you have a factory installed system it has to blank itself when the car is in gear. GPS is OK, but no TVs or DVD players. Of course, that's not to say that people don't put them in illegally. When I was in Japan in 1998, my boss had a hi-8 vcp and a 5" trinitron monitor bolted to the dash of his subaru. He would dub rented VHS tapes to hi-8 and watch them in his car.
+++ ATH0 +++
You mean once the cars started its parking process, it can't be stopped? It's like some crazed, out of control parking cyborg, and the poor driver is trapped and helpless until its completed its mission?
I kinda figured they'd design so that doing something like stepping on the brake would halt the process. You know, like they do with cruise control. That way the driver could sit in the car and keep an eye out for trouble, and not be distracted by trying to maneuver the vehicle into a tight space without hitting something. Driver watches for trouble, car parks itself, everyones safer.
Granted, some people will hit the "Park" button, then start making phone calls or putting on makeup or hell, get out of the car and head into the mall and leave the empty car to park itself. I chalk those problems up to stupid people, not a stupid design.
As for your 700 cc engines and 50 mph speed limit... come vistit me in Dallas sometime. We'll make a day trip to El Paso, and along the way you'll have plenty of time to tell me how much you you enjoy driving at 50 MPH.
I am NOT a man!
I am a free number!
The vast majority of lamps which cause disability glare are doing so becuase they are:
a) Misaimed either intentionally to get better visibility or by accident because the driver or mechanic don't know what they are doing. You don't have to mis-aim a lamp by much to throw a lot of light at oncoming drivers...one degree too high is more than enough to do it.
b) Retrofitted with pumped-up aftermarket bulbs which the lamp was not designed to use. Even if you use a kit which claims that it's designed for the vehicle in question if you drill out a hole in your lamp to put in an aftermarket HID system you WILL screw it up. Get that sucker out of position by half a millimeter and you're going to blind everybody who looks at you.
Sueing the OEMs won't change the behaviour of the vehicle users.
In response to the article itself, the thing I most miss that the Euros have while we NAers tend not to is the mighty Rear Fog Lamp. Since certain states *cough*Virginia*cough* do not allow their use, most foreign OEMs disable the rear fog functionality on the cars the export to NA. I drive a Mini Cooper and it has a rear fog cavity in the tail-lights but the damn thing is turned off in the CAN-bus and there's a plug in my dash where the switch should be! Anybody who has ever driven behind a car that does have these in the rain knows how much we need to update the FMVSS code to explicitly allow them here.
-Pinkoir
I'm not living in the US you insensitive clod! My Automobile will be able to do those things!
Failing to learn from history dooms you to repeat it.
i dont want the people passing me watching TV while they're driving.
The European system shuts off if the car is going more than 3 MPH. If you're getting passed by someone going 3 MPH, perhaps you should just pedal your Big Wheel a bit faster?
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
Part of the problem is that a lot of average American drivers seem to think that the world revolves around them. Seriously, they're like, "I'll drive at half the speed limit in the left line while yacking on the phone if I want to, oh shit I needed to make a right, who cares if I can just turn at the next turn and make my way to the right street from there, I'll just cut across everyone else!
It's the inconsiderateness combined with the distraction. If a call is too involving for me to drive at the right speed for I say, "Hold on." Find a parking lot or a good out of the way place to pull off to then pick the phone back up. It makes me and the other drivers on the road more comfortable. If I'm on a time constraint then it's, "Sorry I can't talk now I'm driving." If they won't get off the phone, "I'm driving and I hate having long conversations on the phone while driving, talk to you later." I also have distinctive rings for people who I would want to pick up the phone for even when driving. The average call is ignored until I get to my destination. I might make an exception to listen to the message to determine if it's important or not at the next red light.
The only near misses I've been involved in were due to those very people who have their cell phone as part of the entire driving experience.
TV with a video cut off is not anywhere near as bad as cell phones, when the video cuts off I'd imagine it's no worse than radio. I personally would love to at least have these features available in cars, the parking one seems very useful to me too. Ever have those spots that you know you can fit in but are small enough that you have to be extra careful about parking (usually because of some other idiot who is too far past or too far back from his/her meter. I fear for those other drivers myself who would 1) Do stupid things because the technology is there (such as get out of the car while it's parking) and 2) Blame the company for their own user stupidity.
Driving courses and tests need to become more rigorous to include more common sense than memorized knowledge.
"If you're having a conversation on the phone while driving that is getting really intense what would you do?" No multiple choice, just written answer, if they say, "Keep driving" they fail, one common sense answer wrong, they fail. No exceptions.
The article didn't mention the fact that cars (and trucks) are a heck of a lot larger in the US versus Japan and Europe. Thus, automboile accidents here are much more serious.
Getting hit with a Fiat would be nothing compared to a Hemi equipped Dodge 2500 truck.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
How does any president reform a law? I mean he can ask some congressman or senator to try and repeal/enact a law but he certainly does not have the power to propose a law.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
uhm - not exactly.
... :-(
In Germany, the actual written test is a simple 4-pages multiple choice test with some numbers to fill in (amount of meters you need for breaking at 100 km/h and so on), and the question are chosen from a...100 pages? catalogue of all possible questions. With average intelligence, it is possible to read all questions one time and pass the test with 0 errors (9 errors are allowed, one questions counts between 2 and 4 error points).
The practical test depends heavily on the examiner - between 15 minutes and 60 minutes of driving, with parking, city, Autobahn, everything. Everyone can have bad luck and spoil that.
The biggest difference between the US (at least what I know of it) and Germany is the driving school: You are not allowed to drive with your parents, you have to drive with a teacher. And you need a minimum amount of driving experience to do the test (12 hours, 3 hours Autobahn, 3 hours overland, 3 hours in the night). Most people use between 18 to 25 hours. It's really expensive to get a drivers license, it is not easy to stay within 1.500 EUR.
But in the end, nearly noone who just passed the drivers test is actually able to drive. You just need at least half a year of experience to know what you are doing, and after that, the most dangerous time starts - the kids stop using their brain while driving...and the boys start using their
You read those comments by the Europeans in the article! Inflamitory! They are suggestiong that, we Americans, are irate little hot heads that would litigate for trifiling nusances. I won't stand for it, I'm going to sue them for slander!
...uh..never mind....
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Are they kidding? Here in America people think they can drive responsibly with a cell phone in their ear. Now they want to take our eyes off the road, too?
Yep, this is just BEGGING for a lawsuit.
Fiat pulled out of the US market years ago. I miss them. Over the years I've had several Fiat 850 Spyders and a coupe, I've had a 124 too.
They were good basic cars that were fun to drive and easy to work on. What more can you really ask for?
Now to see what they offer in Europe, hell, I'd kill for one of them.
Sometimes people would tell me that FIAT stood for "Fix It Again, Tony." I'll admit that I have my share of problems with the cars, but then I was really driving 'em a little harder than I should have too. Besides, they were fun to fix. I could lift the engine out of an 850 all by myself and a complete engine swap only took an afternoon or so. Frankly, I'd bet that had I been driving American cars I would have had as many problems and would have had to spend a lot more to fix 'em.
A junk yard I knew spliced a 124 and a 128 together, it was just sort of a joke but they had a two engined car to show off!
I only regret that I never got around to owning a X/19 or 2000.
Does it play "The Blue Danube"?
DG
Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
No, and No. You must have your foot on the brake pedal at all times. As soon as you take it off, the auto parking procedure stops.
Yeah, well you left out the hardest part -
The damned tests are written entirely in German!
help me i've cloned myself and can't remember which one I am
That seems like a bad design. In normal use of a car you press the brake to stop not take your foot off of it. Won't a person using them system and react by pressing down harder on the brake when they suddenly need to make an emergency stop (kid with soccer ball, etc)?
As posted below:
The system is simple... you apply moderate brake pressure, and the system parks. Your foot pushes down, it stops. Your foot goes off the pedal, it stops.
The IRA was of course largely funded by Republican sympathizers in the USA who wanted British troops to get out of Dublin.
Some cars use the brake pedal for starting the engine, you stick the magnetic card in, press the brake pedal down and push the start button. Wont start unless the brake pedal is down. If you don't know the car now it's a bit like figuring out nintendo cheat codes to get things to work. Brake, Brake, Start, Clutch, seat forward 2, indicate left, 1st, 3rd, handbrake, horn.. god mode enabled.
...a simple freaking linein jack to my stereo system?