5 ms·

What exactly is the issue? That the guy has been recklessly opening his car door, while driving it, at speed, for his entire life?

• peteradio 3y ago
  The issue is that its not safe to activate the emergency brake at highway speeds. It seems like an anti-safety feature.
  • ceejayoz 3y ago
    Isn’t it recommended in a brake failure situation? Car to neutral, engage emergency brake.
    • peteradio 3y ago
      That's an emergency maneuver where you are trying to land an out of control vehicle, don't really see how it applies to the above scenario. So no its still not safe but neither is having no brakes.
      • ceejayoz 3y ago
        A door opening on the highway is an emergency scenario, too. The car is correct to go “what the fuck?!”
        • freedomben 3y ago
          I wonder if this is a cultural difference. When I was a kid, because people did this all the time for various reasons. It's less common now (or at least, in the circle of people who ride in my car it is), especially with better door ajar sensors, but still a situation in which if it happened in my car I would guess the door hadn't been shut all the way and they were just closing it. As a teenager/20s in the 90s/00s, having tobacco spit and realizing you forgot your cup was a semi-common reason to do that. The alternative (assuming you weren't so classless as to spit on the floormat) was to swallow the spit which is really terrible for you.
          • adgjlsfhk1 3y ago
            what about windows?
            • freedomben 3y ago
              Everyone tries the window at least once :-D Unless you are truly an expert spitter and the car is not moving, then spitting out the window is going to end up streaking the tobacco juice all across the exterior of the car. If the rear window is open, it might even go onto the back seat of the car. If you aren't moving then it will usually land somewhat vertically on the body of the car, or straight back (horizontally) if you're moving fast. It's always super tempting to try, but nearly impossible to pull off
          • serf 3y ago
            it's not a great habit, but i've routinely witnessed people in sports cars crack the door open for additional clearance to manipulate their belts or adjust their seats, then quickly re-closing the door -- my point being that this kind of thing isn't absolutely exclusive to people chewing tobacco, and the car stomping the brakes or whatever is clearly under-thought.
        • peteradio 3y ago
          Couldn't disagree more. Slamming on the brakes is an absolute last ditch maneuver at speed and shouldn't come about because the car gets a lil confused.
        • serf 3y ago
          Door/window sensors aren't infallible -- they're quite literally a wear item in most variants. It's absolutely ridiculous to use such a signal to direct vehicle handling dynamics and control aspects. source : I was a mechanic at a dealership as a young person for many years, and I replaced an untold amount of door switches as warranty work -- but back then the most that they did was annoy the driver with an intermittently lit cabin rather than brake-stomping.
        • palemoonale 3y ago
          Not. As pointed out, opening and re-closing isn't uncommon, especially in winter. Stop defending nannyfying conditioning.
          • ceejayoz 3y ago
            > As pointed out, opening and re-closing isn't uncommon, especially in winter. Where is this pointed out? Opening and closing the doors at highway speed is not common, winter or otherwise. I'm fine with "nannifying" cars when it gets these results. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_safety_in_the_United_States#/media/File:US_traffic_deaths_per_VMT,_VMT,_per_capita,_and_total_annual_deaths.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_safety_in_the_U...
            • haswell 3y ago
              It’s an oversimplification to conclude that the drop in deaths is just from “nannyifying” cars. There have been major improvements to vehicle frames, roll safety, crumple zones, etc that all play a major role in that graph. And adding safety features to cars is one thing. Indiscriminately slamming on the brakes without context is another. A feature has to actually lead to safer outcomes. Braking hard when opening the door is highly questionable.
              • ceejayoz 3y ago
                > There have been major improvements to vehicle frames, roll safety, crumple zones, etc that all play a major role in that graph. The people who decry the "nanny state" tend to oppose requirements for these, as well. You'll find plenty of people moaning about how they don't make cars like they used to, that bumpers require expensive replacement in low-speed impacts, that all this extra metal is expensive, etc. > Indiscriminately slamming on the brakes without context is another. I wouldn't call "when the driver door opens at speed" to be "indiscriminate". I don't doubt the sudden decceleration is a bit surprising (and it probably quickly trains you out of opening the door mid-drive), but if someone rear-ends you because of this that's clearly their fault for following too closely.
        • Cacti 3y ago
          Give the chance, an HNer will always assume that someone is stupid, rather than risk the possibility of admitting to themselves they are ignorant about something.
        • jjav 3y ago
          > A door opening on the highway is an emergency scenario, too. It is absolutely not, that's a silly claim. Go and push open your door on the highway, nothing much will happen. Wind will push it back, it'll mostly close and you can keep driving that way all day if you like. Sure it's not the normal way to drive, but there's nothing dramatic about it, let alone "emergency".
  • bagels 3y ago
    I read a little about this system on jeeps. It seems to only happen under 1 mph, and stems from previous novel (faulty ux) shifter designs that led people to be run over by their own cars.
    • Cacti 3y ago
      This is what we experienced with our Jeep. The only times it’s gone off is when pulling in or out, and it’s very rare. It is hard to believe the OPs story is entirely true, or wasn’t exaggerated. More like the guy spilled some dip on himself while pulling out of the garage (because of the sudden halt) and it eventually turned into a “honey, i’m serious, I almost died” story because they were so embarrassed.
  • grepfru_it 3y ago
    The issue is someone is used to the way an old system operated and expects a new system to operate the same way. My mother has no clue that the spinning circle is a "system thinking" icon, but if it were an hourglass it would make immediate sense. News at 11.
• xbar 3y ago
  Undocumented, non-standard, life-threatening software automation is bad?
  • Cacti 3y ago
    No, it’s documented. Thoroughly. It’s just that it’s a new car and the guy assumed there were no changes, and he didn’t check, and his son didn’t tell him. End of story. Also, this is an adult. With grownish children. They are old enough to know the risk of OPENING THE DRIVERS DOOR AT 70 MPH, and it is no one’s responsibility to account for that, and the guy should know by now that even if it worked 10,000,000,000 times before, it is inherently risky and dangerous, and it will always be inherently risky and dangerous. Like, the risk to reward ratio here is categorically insane. Use a cup, or maybe die? And they chose maybe die? And that’s a problem with the car? Huh?
    • Lanolderen 3y ago
      I don't see it being that dangerous. He's likely just pushing it slightly open with his left forearm automatically and taking his eyes off the road just for the second he needs to spit his tobacco out. If something happens the moment he stops actively pushing the wind will close it and he's likely strapped with a seatbelt so it's not like he can somehow fall out. I've had to re-close my door at speed multiple times on old vehicles because I didn't close it hard enough and it was never sketchy in any way. Doing literally anything on a touchscreen takes more attention. And the documented part is BS. People don't read their owners manuals and even if they did it'd usually say not to open the door in motion, not that it will slam the brakes if you do. Even if it does it's unrealistic to expect people to read the manual of every car they drive. Rentals would go out of business real quick.
• alistairSH 3y ago
  Slamming on the brakes seems like an over-reaction. Nobody is arguing opening the door at speed is safe, but an unexpected brake application isn't safe either. A more appropriate measure would be a loud and annoying alarm. Or a steering wheel shaker (like many lane-keeping systems already have).