Automatic Braking Systems

Jayhawker

I have a question about cars with Automatic Braking Systems....Say you're driving along and a possum runs out in front of you...Does the car slam on the brakes or does it just run right over the little bastard?

Tugar

I would guess the latter. 

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/safety-features-automatic-braking-system-tested-explained

orchidman

Jayhawker said:

I have a question about cars with Automatic Braking Systems....Say you're driving along and a possum runs out in front of you...Does the car slam on the brakes or does it just run right over the little bastard?

If it did, I would be sending it back to have that option disarmed..........

Which brings up another interesting question. If you are offroading and hit the loud pedal to crash through some brush, will the vehicle respond or will it brake?

Jayhawker

And what if you WANT to run over somebody?

zorba

More useless technology.

earlyagain

ABS
When the passenger stomps the floor board repeatedly as if there's a brake pedal while screaming incoherent euphemisms. Then ya know the brakes need immediate application.

knitepoet

LOL @earlyagain

During one of the driver safety classes I attended for the ambulance service I worked for at the time, the instructor warned all of us paramedics, "If you hear your driver yell 'OH ****!' consider that your collision warning siren and BRACE as quickly as possible"

knitepoet

Concerning the automatic braking, automatic park assist etc ad nauseum...

I do not currently have a vehicle with any of that, and I prefer to keep it that way

zorba

knitepoet said:

Concerning the automatic braking, automatic park assist etc ad nauseum...

I do not currently have a vehicle with any of that, and I prefer to keep it that way

Yep. Completely un-necessary unless you're messing with your smartphone or otherwise not paying attention - which is, unfortunately, the majority of drivers these days.

zorba

... that may all be true, BUT - if you're operating your vehicle in a safe manner, the likelyhood of EVER needing one of these overpriced "systems" is vastly reduced. We would get a HUGE increase in safety if smartfones automatically shut off when the engine was started - but we'll never see that. Americans are scared of life, that's how the safetycrats got a foothold in the first place.

Oh, and its BRAKING, not BREAKING!

Make_My_Day

Grammar Nazi......

Big Chief

Make_My_Day said:

Grammar Nazi......

Zorba is Channeling ole SamW

Jayhawker

Make_My_Day said:

Grammar Nazi......

I was about to say something...

earlyagain

As a professional driver of 30 years experience and a recent recipient of a 22 year safe driver award I say.....

I'm definitely failable. As I age my reactions slow down and adverse conditions create greater fatigue that further deminish my ability.

I see a level of disregard beyond contempt in a regularly encountered portion of my fellow motorists. If ABS systems work, its beneficial technology. Same as seatbelts, paded dash boards, and crumple zones. If they do not work and add additional risk, than such systems should have postponed adoption until they do work.

Jermanator

Wambli Ska said:

That’s funny because that quote was copied directly from the Cornell article.  I guess their auto correct/spellchecker sucks as bad as mine.

Damn Apple products!

tennmike

I've been rear ended twice. I was leaving enough space between me and the vehicle(s) in front of me to have plenty of time to brake without a panic stop, and did. The freakin' tailgater behind me, each time, got stabbed by the drop hitch on the truck. I removed a radiator from one, and relocated the engine on another. If you're 3 feet of the rear bumper of the vehicle in front of you doing 70 mph, I don't think that auto braking is gonna save your bacon when the vehicle in front of you has heavy braking applied. I COULD be wrong about that, but I don't think so.

Bigslug

Yet another bit of technology to remove Darwin from the equation.

The world needs  A LOT MORE Darwin, not less.

coolgunguy

Auto braking is a wonderful thing, so long as it's saving your bacon by keeping you off of the vehicle in front of you.  When it's applying a bunch of "whoa" and all of a sudden you're catching instead of receiving... not so much.  

That's a hard pass from this Luddite.  I'll just pay attention when I'm driving, thanks. 

Jayhawker

Nice discussion....but what about the possum...

Jermanator

The real answer? According to Tugar's link, a possum will not have the radar signature of the rear end of a car and will become roadkill.

A more spirited answer? According to Wambli's Apple technology, in a fight between the car and possum, the possum will loose-- no breaking will be involved.

Fisheadgib

Hey  Zorba, I'm curious if you think anti lock brakes are also stupid and unnecessary technology that's being forced upon us. Do you think that you could stop faster without it?

breamfisher

Electric starters. The wussification of America began when we got rid of hand-crank starters and started using buttons and keys to start our cars.

coolgunguy

I'm not against technology. Hell, I'm posting this from a hand held computer that I can use to send & recieve messages of multiple types virtually anywhere in the world.  All of our vehicles have electronic fuel injection and ABS, one has a remote start and two have traction control.  

This isn't about fear of technology, it's about giving up control... or at least the illusion of control.  

ETA: I don't recall anybody here clamoring for "smart" guns... in fact, quite the opposite.  As I recall, the opposition to even the thought of smart guns was unanimous.  

Food for thought...

zorba

coolgunguy said:

This isn't about fear of technology, it's about giving up control... or at least the illusion of control.  

Its more about having to PAY for it, and then pay for it again when it breaks. Oh, and when the Telcos get their way, pay for it every month!

We didn't have all this nanny state crap in (say) 1978. Didn't need it then, don't need it now!

zorba

Wambli Ska said:

 What I will not tolerate is anyone cramming it down my throat.

But that is EXACTLY what is happening in the case of all this automotive nonsense.

zorba

Fisheadgib said:

Hey  Zorba, I'm curious if you think anti lock brakes are also stupid and unnecessary technology that's being forced upon us. Do you think that you could stop faster without it?

ABS is "Ok" - it is one of the few things I've seen that is an actual advance - and if it breaks, it doesn't matter if you don't get it fixed. With that said, I wouldn't pay 10 cents more for it. Didn't need it in 1978, don't need it now! The US is the only country in the world where cars are designed to HIT each other - well, it was. The contagion is spreading. That "off road only" Jeep clone from India is a great example - I'd buy one in a heartbeat to drive on the road as its perfectly capable, but our effin' NANNY STATE won't let me.

HappySquid

^ that

zorba

Wambli Ska said:

 And as always the markets will decide.

No, they won't.

The gov't will mandate this crap and/or the auto manufacturers will cram it down our throats. Its already pretty much impossible for me to buy a car the way *I* want it equipped. I have to buy a bunch of expensive, overpriced crap to get the few "features" I want (namely A/C and cruise control) - we cannot buy cars by LINE ITEM the way I'm given to understand the rest of the world can.

I've told this story before: Years back, I was looking for a pickup truck. I went to all three dealerships, and told them the same thing. "I want your HD 3/4 ton diesel truck with a manual transmission. I want A/C, I want cruise control. I want all the HD stuff (Cooling, suspension, etc). If it has a sliding rear window, that's great. If not, I'll aftermarket it. Ditto for the stereo. I want your best, supportive NON-POWER seat (this was years before the leather stupidity caught up with trucks). I do NOT want power crap (locks, windows, etc), chrome packages, lighting packages, blah, blah. Can you sell me a truck like this?"

Ford and Chevy both told me "No way", Dodge says "Yes. You'll end up with a tilt steering wheel, and it'll be special order, but we can do it". Tilt steering is kind of stupid, but it can be set once and forgotten about. Special order should be the NORM, not the exception.

I ended up buying a used Ford that the previous owner had added an aftermarket A/C to. I replaced the bench seat with a really nice unit from "J.C. Whip-me", and had an aftermarket cruise control added. IT WAS PERFECT!

tennmike

Wambli, this fast reliable telecom service with high speed internet for everyone, including those of who live in the boonies and subsidize all the urban types. When will it reach the boonies? I'm tired of all y'all urbanites getting all the new upgraded service on MY DIME!

tennmike

ABS. Redneck the brake system by taking out all that stuff when it is no longer user selectable. Just put in the old standard braking system parts. It ain't rocket surgery!

Bonus. The stupid computer running the car will lose it's teeny tiny electron fueled mind!

tennmike

Wambli Ska said:

tennmike said:

Wambli, this fast reliable telecom service with high speed internet for everyone, including those of who live in the boonies and subsidize all the urban types. When will it reach the boonies? I'm tired of all y'all urbanites getting all the new upgraded service on MY DIME!

If I showed you my Verizon, Apple, ATMC, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix... bills you’d faint... 🤣

Well, you is a high falutin' bidnessman that uses a LOT of services. If you weren't getting subsidized by us folk in the boonies, your bill would be even higher.

Like that rail service all over the North East. I've not seen a passenger train in my neck of the woods since the 1960's. But I have subsidized the price of tickets for all those AmTrak and other trains with my tax $$$ all my life. Same kind of crap that caused that Late Unpleasantness that started in 1861.