! Radar Breaking !

[frank rabbets]

Coming out of Birmingham yesterday in my Mk 7 golf I was doing 40 mph in lane 2 of a dual carriageway and about 45ft (safe distance) from the car in front. Traffic in both lanes. Then a small Golf shot through on my inside and pulled directly in front then did an emergency stop. I just had time to touch the brake pedal but by that time a buzzer went off and my car pretty well did an emergency stop by itself. The ABS kicked in although I did not think I had pressed the pedal that hard. In fact I was still pressing the brake pedal after the car had stopped. Not sure I would have stopped in time without my radar assistance. Nice dry road thank god.

 

[stumog]

I'd stay out of brum myself.

Those new golfs do take some getting used to with all the gadgets like that

 

[Beau]

Recently sold my MK7 Golf, was a nice ride. I think the reason for ABS kicking in is the undersized front tires. They could do with something like a 245 front width and a stickier compound especially if you have a tune on it as well.

 

[Towpack]

Specified Tyre size/type is as much about economy these days as it is about grip and performance, especially on basic cars like the a Golf. Extra wide stickier tyres wouldn’t do the mpg figures any favours.
The Brother in Law’s last car, a Skoda Scout estate had ‘Lane Assist’ which somehow detected if you were drifting lanes on the Motorway and gave a quick shudder through the steering wheel. He hated it.

 

[Shayne]

I had a skipper break my radar cost me about 5 grand and him his job

 

[silvercruiser]

My wife has that on her vitara. it saved me writting it off when it was a day old. i was fiddling with the headunit and all the cars had stopped. she didnt let me drive it after that lol.

 

[moggy1968]

I hate the increasing use of ‘driver aids’ on vehicles. Pain in the arse most of them.

 

[Towpack]

I guess the driver aids in modern vehicles improve safety in some respects, the only problem being that they can become regarded as some sort of auto pilot and relied on to get the driver out of trouble in extreme scenarios.

 

[moggy1968]

I guess the driver aids in modern vehicles improve safety in some respects, the only problem being that they can become regarded as some sort of auto pilot and relied on to get the driver out of trouble in extreme scenarios.

The more you disassociate the driver from the driving function the less safe they become.
Dumbing down a task doesn’t make it safer, indeed it will generally reduce the competence and ability of the person performing the task.

we will soon be seeing the ultimate ridiculous conclusion of this, soon all new cars will be fitted with speed limiters, lane control, radar, etc etc etc. Will that make them safer? I doubt it tbh.

 

[frank rabbets]

I'm glad I had the Radar "driver aid". It doesn't make me a worse driver. I was braking but might not have stopped in time. I fitted a driver aid to my 80, a reversing camera, very convenient. Windscreen wipers are good too. Stops you having to stop every 10 feet. I also have a buzzer to tell me when I've left the lights on.

 

[Towpack]

There are many things you can call driver aids. Windscreen wipers, light buzzers and reversing cameras, as Frank has mentioned, are certainly that but we accept them now more as ‘conveniences’ rather than aids. The growing number of safety aids have value as back up but they’re certainly no substitute for a good driving acumen. The launch of ABS on road going bikes kicked off the argument over wether an experienced rider could stop quicker without it but, personally, I take reassurance in the fact that it’s there, even though I’ve never yet have it kick in. With 200+ bhp on tap I’ve also appreciated (on several occasions) the traction control but neither will save my ass if I over cook it in a bend. JMO

 

[Shayne]

The beauty of electronics is they work perfectly just long enough to teach us to rely on them with blind trust , then they fail .

I remember reading long ago about a Red Arrows pilot testing the new jump jet or eurofighter whatever i don't know , frustrated by the fact he could no longer perform certain stunts and having confirmation from ground that those stunts were no longer possible - he did them anyway later explaining he pulled the safety override fuse

 

[StarCruiser]

Sounds like an attempted insurance scam Frank. Good job it was avoided.

 

[moggy1968]

Comparing windscreen wipers to speed limiters, lane controls and auto braking is a bit ridiculous tbh.
I can’t think of any situation where windscreen wipers would be considered unsafe or as dissociating the driver from the driving function.

 

[Beau]

At the end of the day, these things do help save lives on the road. The question of drivers becoming more reliant on them or dissociating drivers is a different question. Most of us on this forum, are car people and enjoy to actually drive our cruisers without anything interfering in it. But like OP, when the tech works well it can indeed react quicker than a human and that split second can be just enough to stop you ending up in the rear end of someone.

Plus, most of these cars give you the option to turn off these features, for those who want to.

 

[moggy1968]

At the end of the day, these things do help save lives on the road. The question of drivers becoming more reliant on them or dissociating drivers is a different question. Most of us on this forum, are car people and enjoy to actually drive our cruisers without anything interfering in it. But like OP, when the tech works well it can indeed react quicker than a human and that split second can be just enough to stop you ending up in the rear end of someone.

Plus, most of these cars give you the option to turn off these features, for those who want to.

That’s highly debatable.
You can’t turn off traction control in a lot of vehicles (including the Hilux I had once over 30mph). You can’t generally turn off abs, you won’t be able to turn off a speed limiter, I’m not sure you can turn off the radar braking function, and if you could it would probably invalidate your insurance.
Tech can be good, but it’s going too far. Now it’s tech for techs sake.
Maybe if people paid more attention rather than being distracted by the ridiculous tablet style systems most cars have now then they would get on better. Not much point moaning about phones when the manufactures are sticking increasingly complex tablet style systems in the middle of the dash.
If you are driving down the motorway for several hours and you don’t have to think about how far away from the vehicle in front you are, you don’t have to worry about whether a car is already overtaking you when you want to change lanes, you don’t have to worry about braking or accelerating, so you just sit there pretty much doing nothing, does that make you a safer and more attentive driver, or not? More or less able to react to a situation that does require your input, or not?
There is also evidence that the safer people feel, the more risks they take.

 

[Shayne]

I has all sorts of bikes when i was young but the most dangerous by far was least powerful i ever rode

Twist and go , so slow i'd be bored out of my mind staring over the far side hedge in a world of my own when the near side gutter and hedge abruptly reminded me i was actually moving

 

[StarCruiser]

… so slow i'd be bored out of my mind staring over the far side hedge in a world of my own when the near side gutter and hedge abruptly reminded me i was actually moving

Towards the other end of the scale I’ve never felt so alert and alive as driving at 130mph on the Autobahn. It also resulted in total silence from Lynn.

 

[moggy1968]

Towards the other end of the scale I’ve never felt so alert and alive as driving at 130mph on the Autobahn. It also resulted in total silence from Lynn.

Yep, likewise, eyes on stalks!!

 

[frank rabbets]

Yes. I used to ignore all the speed limits when I drove a lot in the 80's and as fast as I could possibly go and never had an accident. Then in about 1990 I decided if I killed a child that ran out when I was doing 50 mph in a 30 mph zone I would never forgive myself. Now that brought a new type of concentration which has not left me i.e. concentrating on road signs and remembering, all the time, which speed limit I was in. I don't think any driver aids would take away my driving concentration. I have parking sensors all round on my Golf which saves getting out all the time to check parking distances.