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NHTSA Toughens Crash Test Rating Standards
mrspoonsi sends word that the U.S. government wants to toughen crash tests to measure pedestrian impact and evaluate driver assisting technology. USA Today reports: "U.S. regulators are overhauling the process of assigning safety ratings to new vehicles by proposing requiring more crash-avoidance technologies to achieve a perfect score and adopting new crash-test dummies to assess performance. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Tuesday proposed revising the current ratings system from a single overall score of 1 to 5 into a multifaceted scorecard that would include the score on crash-avoidance systems and a mark for pedestrian safety. Currently, NHTSA ranks cars simply based on crash-worthiness. Five stars is a perfect rating. The number of deaths on U.S. roadways fell to a record-low, based on incidents per miles driven, of 32,675 fatalities in 2014. But an 8% uptick in deaths in the first half of 2015 fueled concern that progress on vehicle safety may have stalled. Under the current system, which hasn't been updated in several years, more than 90% of vehicles earn a rating of at least 4 stars."
Things like blind spot monitoring and automatic braking are crutches for bad drivers, as the OP said.
I dunno; I think I can do better than automatic braking on a good day, probably even a typical day, but when it comes to safety I should consider the kind of driver I am at my worst; when I'm angry, tired, and distracted for example.
When we think of ourselves as drivers we imagine ourselves at our best, which is why everyone thinks he's a better than average driver. Most people probably are better than average half of the time. But people aren't consistent like machines; we aren't always at our best. Even good drivers are bad drivers occasionally. If you're honest with yourself you'd probably admit to yourself that from time to time you make a stupid mistake that you normally wouldn't.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
testing basically.. Australia, UK, and France have more stringent licensing standards, it also cost more money and they often have higher age requirements to get a drivers license.
Rear view cameras are specifically about kids who are *too small* for you to see when looking out the rear window. If there is a kid behind you they don't have to get out of the way, you have to yield. But you can't yield if you don't know that they are there. That's why the camera is important.
ABS has NEVER been about stopping distance. ABS is about keeping control of the vehicle while stopping, ie not getting into a skid or slide.
When I learned to drive (long before ABS was popular), a whole lot of the training was on how to stop in slick conditions. Step 1: do not stomp on the brakes. Step 2: PUMP the brakes quickly so the wheels don't lock up and send you into a skid. Step 3: When step 2 fails, get off the brakes and steer into the direction of the skid to try and recover from it.
Note that if step 1 and 2 are properly followed your stopping DISTANCE is increased.
For the first 20 years or so of driving I used those three steps, including step 3 way more often than I would like (never had an accident though). Since I have a car with ABS, never had to use those steps, because the ABS is taking care of steps 1 and 2, and since it does it far better than I did step 3 hasn't been required.
Yes, there are contrived situations where a person could do better than ABS, but on the whole ABS is much better.