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I have mixed opinions on the new assistive technology. Blind-spot monitoring is pretty good - it's not intrusive (just a yellow light in your outside mirror) a

by chiph 11y ago

I have mixed opinions on the new assistive technology. Blind-spot monitoring is pretty good - it's not intrusive (just a yellow light in your outside mirror) and can save you from an embarrassing accident. Same with the ultrasonic/radar parking assist. I rarely parallel park (there just aren't that many of that style parking spots any more) so the system really helps me judge where the back corners of the car are. I understand that backup cameras will be required in all new US cars soon. The lane-keeping systems OTOH are just plain annoying. Whether they vibrate the steering wheel or give it a nudge, they have no situational awareness. Like when I'm crowding the inside lane to ensure I clear a cyclist in the bike lane.

mikeash 11y ago
I personally found that lane departure warning made me a much more precise driver. I like that a lot. It goes off in error sometimes too, but it's rare now that I've been trained to properly stay within the lines.
- rconti 11y ago
  I was actually wondering if assistive techs like this might make people more likely to signal, as there's a slightly negative feedback to departing one's lane without doing so first.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    God, I hope so. I don't understand why people don't signal. I'm pretty lazy, but I can't understand how anyone can be that lazy.
rconti 11y ago
This is my first car with the ultrasonic parking sensors; they're nice to have for sure. I won't know the corners of the car as well, but, frankly, today's cars are getting harder than ever to see out of anyway, so likely I never would have been as comfortable in a new car. Also, part of "knowing the corners" of your car implies at least some gentle contact at some point in time, which it's best to avoid entirely. One of my favorite features so far is rear assist, which is able to detect oncoming cars as I'm backing out of a parking spot. The bigger the car the more useful this is. It doesn't tell you when you're 6" from a vehicle, it tells you when there's a vehicle traveling at speed further away that you're about to back towards.

by chiph 11y ago

mikeash 11y ago

I personally found that lane departure warning made me a much more precise driver. I like that a lot. It goes off in error sometimes too, but it's rare now that I've been trained to properly stay within the lines.

rconti 11y ago
I was actually wondering if assistive techs like this might make people more likely to signal, as there's a slightly negative feedback to departing one's lane without doing so first.
- mikeash 11y ago
  God, I hope so. I don't understand why people don't signal. I'm pretty lazy, but I can't understand how anyone can be that lazy.

rconti 11y ago

This is my first car with the ultrasonic parking sensors; they're nice to have for sure. I won't know the corners of the car as well, but, frankly, today's cars are getting harder than ever to see out of anyway, so likely I never would have been as comfortable in a new car. Also, part of "knowing the corners" of your car implies at least some gentle contact at some point in time, which it's best to avoid entirely. One of my favorite features so far is rear assist, which is able to detect oncoming cars as I'm backing out of a parking spot. The bigger the car the more useful this is. It doesn't tell you when you're 6" from a vehicle, it tells you when there's a vehicle traveling at speed further away that you're about to back towards.