Volvo unveils the Auto Brake
posted at 9:58 am on December 14, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
No, not the automobile brake — that came at the same time as the horseless carriage, even if the people behind you on the freeway don’t seem familiar with it. Volvo now has an automatic braking system for city driving that keeps drivers from ending up in the trunk of the car ahead of them. It’s the perfect gift for the attention-deficit crowd that pays more attention to their Blackberry than the traffic on the road:
Some mope chatting on a cell phone, texting his roommate or skimming the Blackberry for messages so he has fewer to answer during the game tonight doesn’t notice that the car ahead on the Kennedy Expressway has stopped.
Bam!
Only a 5-m.p.h. impact, but by the time it’s reported and traffic squeezes into the two other lanes, everyone is going to be at least an hour late. …
Enter Volvo and its new City Safety system, which uses infrared imaging to read up to 18 feet ahead and sense that a car is there going slower than you or stopped. A collision waiting to happen.
Volvo demonstrated City Safety, which will be standard on its 2010 XC60 crossover derived from the S80 sedan when it goes on sale in March. It is visiting local dealers—we attended the program at Patrick Volvo —to give consumers a look at the system.
The City Safety system doesn’t deliver a smooth, gliding stop for the awareness-impaired drivers it protects. It hits the ABS brakes with full force, meaning the Blackberry will go sailing at the dashboard and the driver will hit the windshield if he didn’t remember to fasten his safety belt first. It also only works at slow speeds, 9 MPH and below, which is why they call it City Safety. It’s intended for bumper-to-bumper driving that bores drivers so much that they look for distractions to take their minds off the fact that they could probably walk faster than traffic during rush hour.
Is this really a good idea? If everyone had it at the same time, maybe. Unfortunately, the driver behind the oaf who pays more attention to text messaging than traffic will not have much time to respond to the sudden stop of the car ahead of him. He’ll likely pay the price for the ADD of the driver ahead of him. Still, it’s a start — and maybe breaking a few Blackberries will condition drivers to pay closer attention to the task at hand.
Blowback
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This would be unnecessary if people followed at a safe distance.
I’ll still slow down for tailgaters, whether it’s a Volvo or not.
jgapinoy on December 14, 2008 at 10:01 AM
Perfect. That sounds like a great invention.
I must confess, the only accident I’ve ever been in is one of these, and I was distracted…probably because I was only 50 feet away from where I was going.
jimmy the notable on December 14, 2008 at 10:02 AM
You’ve never driven in manhattan have you?
ernesto on December 14, 2008 at 10:04 AM
I know that tailgaters are more interested in getting-from-point-A-to-point-B-quickly-no-matter-what than in learning anything, but let’s try an experiment. Maybe, just maybe, if we all would slow down four or five mph each time our bumpers are being shadowed, they might decide that they would be better off backing off. If someone is going to rear-end me, it would be less dangerous at a lower speed.
jgapinoy on December 14, 2008 at 10:04 AM
Or, there’s this: When you’re driving, freaking drive. Put down the cell phone and the blackberry and stick with the CD that’s already on the stereo, roll down the window if it gets warm instead of diddling with the A/C for five minutes, and drive. If you don’t want to pony up the dough to ride in a carpool so you have all the time in the world to sleep or text or whatever, then just drive. You’ll find it’s actually quite easy when you just drive.
Spc Steve on December 14, 2008 at 10:05 AM
Nope.
jgapinoy on December 14, 2008 at 10:05 AM
I break check tailgaters all day long
blatantblue on December 14, 2008 at 10:06 AM
I wish I could afford to buy everything Volvo has to offer for my daughter. If you look up road rage in the dictionary, that’s her picture.
Cindy Munford on December 14, 2008 at 10:08 AM
Good. Pain is often the only way to learn not to be stupid.
splink on December 14, 2008 at 10:09 AM
+1
Mark30339 on December 14, 2008 at 10:10 AM
A simple signal interrupting web in the roofs of cars would keep the clowns off the phones while driving. No signal, no talk. And it is really uncomfortable to lean out the window.
Without organized proponents — never happen.
IlikedAUH2O on December 14, 2008 at 10:11 AM
But getting replacements for them is going to be a lot more distracting than a cell phone.
James on December 14, 2008 at 10:16 AM
Unfortunately, there is only a certain amount of room on the road, and there are a certain number of cars. If you divide up the space available equally, you may not have the canonically “safe” distance. If you slow to make the distance ‘safe’ you eventually bring traffic to a halt. The result is premature gridlock. And gridlock is to traffic engineers (and drivers) what the 1918 Spanish ‘flu is to epidemiologists.
Trying to control the amount of space that another driver keeps is generally a wasted effort. You control the space ahead of you … unless you leave so much that someone else cuts in and takes it. This is negative-sum behavior, but if you leave way too much space, you are encouraging it. This hurts not only you but the people in the lane behind you.
Positive-sum behavior gets everyone home faster.
Negative-sum behavior makes sure that everyone else has a worse time of it than you–but you have a much worse time of it than you have to. (Needless stop-and-go is definitely negative-sum; small speed adjustments that have you moving more smoothly that traffic ahead of you is generally positive-sum.)
Which do you prefer?
And I do NOT like the automatic brake; in the case where there is going to be a collision no matter what you do, it takes away from you the choice of WHICH collision and how hard. If there’s a bus barrelling into the toll gate
at forty miles an hour, and I’m the second one in line, I’ll
ram the fellow ahead of me and hope to get moving fast enough to give the truck driver time to break and to reduce the effect of the collision. Face it, if the driver ahead doesn’t move, he’s toast, too.
njcommuter on December 14, 2008 at 10:20 AM
Every car should have the auto brake for city driving and the auto accelerator, auto pedal-to-the-metal that kicks in at 55 mph.
petefrt on December 14, 2008 at 10:21 AM
My method might not work where you live, but it almost always does for me. The tailgater will pass me & tailgate someone else.
jgapinoy on December 14, 2008 at 10:24 AM
Heh. Yeah, that would be awesome. There’s a road by my house that is 55, but I rarely see a car go over 45 on it. Cops never sit there because they know people go slow, so on the rare occasion that the road is open, you can go 70-75 safely.
jimmy the notable on December 14, 2008 at 10:24 AM
Alas, if only that were true no one would ever vote for a lefty ever again.
But lefties attempt to protect their voters and supporters from the pain and full consequences of their actions.
But, like gangrene, treat the finger infection early or lose the arm eventually.
HEY, kinda like exactly what we’re seeing in Washington right now!
Amendment X on December 14, 2008 at 10:29 AM
And the first time the system doesn’t work due to some integrated chip malfunction at the 120,000 mile mark on the odometer, the inattentive driver won’t take the blame for causing the accident, they’ll simply lawyer up and sue the automaker for millions.
jon1979 on December 14, 2008 at 10:31 AM
People who feel the need for this system would probably be better served by a chauffeur.
Driving is obviously above thir paygrade.
irongrampa on December 14, 2008 at 10:33 AM
People should have to pass a test on basic physics to get a driver’s license. You know, really hard things like “Two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time” and “an object in motion …”. Complex physics.
Same with voting. People should have to pass some sort of test such as basic economics, or pay taxes, or somehting to be able to vote.
johnsteele on December 14, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Or be able to spell and type: “something”
johnsteele on December 14, 2008 at 10:38 AM
We dont have “safe distance” here…sh!t, we don’t even have lanes. I mean, sure theres painted lines on the street, but they dont actually MEAN anything.
ernesto on December 14, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Instead of the auto brake or slowing down for tailgaters how about remembering common courtesy – not to mention polite driving!
If you’re on a four lane road (highway or city) slower traffic should be in the RIGHTMOST lane! If you need to make a left turn, and you’re going slower than traffic in general, move into the left lane about a block or so before you need to turn.
Simple things like the above can prevent incidents of road rage. The road isn’t yours alone – it’s shared by all of us.
FloridaBill on December 14, 2008 at 10:43 AM
I suspect this will make drivers even lazier.
Lehosh on December 14, 2008 at 10:43 AM
Right next door to the article Ed quotes is another by the same author advocating the bailout:
Translation: Ford owns Volvo — it’s a multinational too. Overseas, as bad as everyone else’s economy is, is where the ideas and the money come from in the auto industry.
Chrysler used to be multinational, but the Germans know a turkey when they see one from the inside body cavity, and divested Chrysler to Cerberus Investment Group. Cerberus is now wanting to tipple at the trough, and it looks like we are going to let them. Drats.
Oh, speaking of turkeys, the one behind Palin sold for $225 on Ebay. No, not McCain — the other turkey.
unclesmrgol on December 14, 2008 at 10:44 AM
I dare anyone to slam on their brakes in front of me and my 4×4 while tailgating (usually to advise the driver ahead of me that the left lane is not a wise choice when they want to creep along at 55 mph here in California).
Spending the rest of their days in a wheelchair will give them ample time to reorganize thier priorities.
Slower traffic keep right…….why the hell is that so difficult???
omnipotent on December 14, 2008 at 10:46 AM
This idea should be applied to the US Congress.
As soon as one of the criminals/idiots has a thought to spend more of our money without out approval, zap his gonads. I don’t approve of death for the first zap. Maybe the second or third.
notagool on December 14, 2008 at 10:46 AM
Another reason to never settle in behind a slow-ass Volvo driver. If the auto-ABS doesn’t kill you, their smug will.
I drove in Mexico City for five years with nothing but a coat of paint between cars. It was far safer because it kept old people from behind the wheel, and NOBODY used their brakes unless absolutely necessary.
The brake riders, two-footed gas-brake drivers, and idiots who “brake-check” in the left lane, instead of moving into the right hand lane and allowing folks to pass (as is the law) are too self righteous to acknowledge the prevailing rule of the road-mob, and too oblivious to see the path of destruction in their wake.
Cops in Florida will pull you over for brake-check stupidity. Right or wrong, it kills.
Joan of Argghh on December 14, 2008 at 10:48 AM
If the aforementioned crappy driver doesn’t get over to a slower right lane, I WILL pass on the right (illegal?) and clap at the perpitrator. That seems to piss them off more than a certain finger gesture.
Also, why do these ‘tards move over only AFTER I’ve gone around them…..”Gee, I guess that truck behind me DOES want to get to their destination in a timely manner.”
omnipotent on December 14, 2008 at 10:50 AM
It took a man to invent the car, and it probably took one to invent a brake that will work to counter all the accidents that gabbing on a phone causes. The picture sited here is a classic snapshot of what happens. I was nearly killed by a couple of gabbing teens (before cell phone popularity) which is the only thing that qualifies me to have this grudge. The lawyers probably don’t like this system and I am surprised they allowed it to evolve.
johnnyU on December 14, 2008 at 10:57 AM
Bravo Joan…..YOU ROCK.
My three rules for driving on Highways:
1. Never drive behind a Volvo
2. Never drive behind a handicap license plate
3. Never drive behind a Subaru
Priuses may soon be added to that list (see this South Park)
omnipotent on December 14, 2008 at 10:57 AM
Oh, Florida Bill? Your idea will require that drivers ‘let’ people over as well. In my area, if you put on a turn signal, that means ‘close that gap I was about to go in’.
I can’t justify road rage, but there are some people who need a serious attitude adjustment, present company excluded.
johnnyU on December 14, 2008 at 11:01 AM
A better device would be a cell-phone-jammer installed in every vehicle to prevent you from using the phone at all.
tx2654 on December 14, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Yep. It reminds me of the old human factors engineering hypothetical: Imagine two cars. The first is so technologically advanced that the driver can’t possibly be injured. In the second, a nine inch dagger with an explosive charge is embedded in the steering column, programmed to instantly kill the driver if the vehicle ever touches another car. Which of the two cars would you drive more carefully?
Bugler on December 14, 2008 at 11:03 AM
She won those fair and um square?
Speakup on December 14, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Again, protecting us from ourselves goes diredctly against the logic of evolution.
Either let the weaker of us die off or acknowledge he Great Protector is real.
:)
cliff
CBarker on December 14, 2008 at 11:06 AM
hillbillyjim on December 14, 2008 at 11:08 AM
When will Volvo invent the auto-spending brake, and the moronic liberal spending brake?
ParisParamus on December 14, 2008 at 11:17 AM
I live in NYC.
If someone tries getting up MY tailpipe, they are treated to my sudden braking – red lights, slowing down and all.
I drive a 1991 Civic. I’m not losing very much, and it’ll automatically be their fault.
Mommynator on December 14, 2008 at 11:22 AM
Couldn’t hear exactly what the guy in the other car yelled at me, but it rhymed with ‘glass bowl.’
whitetop on December 14, 2008 at 11:39 AM
AP, better take care of that I-Phone! Oh I forgot, you are a New Ywarker, you don’t drive anyway!
conservnut on December 14, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Oh, so your the person that keeps honking at me and flipping me off when I am only going 4 mph over the speed limit in the fast lane?
Count to 10 on December 14, 2008 at 11:42 AM
An libertarians weep. More personal responsibility is taken away from people and given to the state.
I have a ton of points against this, but I won’t bother.
lorien1973 on December 14, 2008 at 11:43 AM
OT: How come there hasn’t been a post yet on this insane $50 Billion dollar scheme.
jimmy the notable on December 14, 2008 at 11:45 AM
I was recently in a 4-car accident on the 405 in LA. The old lady in front of us got a flat tire and came to a sudden and completed stop in the fast lane. The lane to the right was full so there was no option but stopping. My friend always leaves a safe distance between himself and the cars in front so we were able to stop with roughly one car length between us and the old lady.
We weren’t so lucky.
The SUV behind us had managed to slow down to ~35 mph before it slammed into us. A Nissan slammed into them and went under their bumper. Another 4-door hit the Nissan. We were able to get the whole pile of cars stopped, this time, with about 1 foot between our car and hers which was a good thing because she had gotten out of her car to look at the tire.
Of course, the whole thing could have been avoided if the old woman hadn’t panicked when she got a flat. It also could have been avoided if people had left a safe distance between cars (or any distance, really…LA drivers are ridiculous).
Whether you tailgate because everyone else does it, because the person in front of you is truly going too slow, because their speed is fine but you’re crazy and always think the person in front is too slow, or because you just aren’t paying attention, you create a dangerous situation. You’re certainly not the only dangerous ones on the road, but you make it a darn bit harder for people to avoidthose idiots (and survive) which is not really fair.
JadeNYU on December 14, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Yeah, but at least its not the government forcing people to buy these cars. It is a private business that made this braking system, and it is only private buyers who will purchase it. Sure, they’re selling away their liberty to brake when they want, but that is their right.
I don’t see any reasonable political objection to this, since politics played no role in having it developed.
jimmy the notable on December 14, 2008 at 11:47 AM
It should be a little smarter and apply brakes so as to decelerate just enough to avoid a collision. If it did so it could also work at higher speeds. Such a system could help not just the distacted driver and those around him/her, but also drivers who suddenly become incapacitated.
DarkCurrent on December 14, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Mommynator, you’d best be careful. If there was no reason for your braking, the cop can cite you as well.
Look, it’s not about being self-righteous OR an asshole on the road. It’s about understanding how to navigate safely amongst a largely unsupervised mob moving at dangerous speeds. I know it’s very tempting for women of a certain age to demand control of their surroundings, but it doesn’t make for a safe environment for the rest. And it’s not logical to physics or traffic flow science.
You can be “right” all you want and cause untold mayhem.
And you’d be laughed out of countries where the driving license is a privilege earned, not a right that’s granted to children who never take a moment to actually learn how to drive a 2-ton guided missile down the road with millions of others.
Joan of Argghh on December 14, 2008 at 11:57 AM
Sounds like an expensive solution searching for a problem. How about the novel concept of paying attention while you’re driving? Maybe too complicated?
GarandFan on December 14, 2008 at 11:58 AM
No one drives in Manhattan. There’s too much traffic.
Esthier on December 14, 2008 at 11:59 AM
And saying all that, a safe braking distance is good physics, and easier to maintain is slow-riders move over to the right.
Also, damn cruise-controllers that pull into the left lane to just mosey around the car in front of them that is only doing one mph slower. Prevailing traffic in the left lane has to stand on their brakes just so the cruise doesn’t have to slow down in their own lane or accelerate faster than they want to go. Selfish and dangerous.
Joan of Argghh on December 14, 2008 at 12:01 PM
In my Toyota Avalon, I have something part of the way to that goal — laser cruise control, which slows down (but doesn’t stop) when the car in front of you slows down. It beeps when it can’t slow the car down quickly enough and it also shuts off with a beep at 25 MPH. So the driver has to be in control at all times, pay attention, and hit the brake. It’s not auto brake, but it’s a great device.
Attila (Pillage Idiot) on December 14, 2008 at 12:01 PM
If you’re going to pass, get off the cruise control.
Attila (Pillage Idiot) on December 14, 2008 at 12:03 PM
Or Palin.
sethstorm on December 14, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Those are called compacts, with respect to those made by Toyota, Honda and Kia/Hyundai.
sethstorm on December 14, 2008 at 12:10 PM
Yogi?
whitetop on December 14, 2008 at 12:13 PM
I drive an M-60 tank everywhere I go, you would be surprised how many people will get out of your way.
Bishop on December 14, 2008 at 12:16 PM
OTOH, it’s not all that often you see an auto company engage in social engineering, is it?
irongrampa on December 14, 2008 at 12:17 PM
I thought that was left to the govenment.
irongrampa on December 14, 2008 at 12:18 PM
Actually, that’s SOP for the transplant automakers. How else do you get people to accept cars that have less power per dollar, and are built to the standards of another nation?
That’s why you have flashy Scion’s with poky I-4′s surrounded with cheapish gadgets and shiny wheels all around.
sethstorm on December 14, 2008 at 12:24 PM
I believe you, which is one thing that keeps me out of New York!
Bob's Kid on December 14, 2008 at 12:31 PM
No, but I have driven in Boston, which is bad, although not as bad as Manhattan is reputed to be. The accident rate was ENORMOUS — to the point where most people didn’t bother repairing bumper damage, door dents, and so forth, because they were so frequent. I don’t think “Auto Brake” is designed to protect people from crashes in such heavily congested places.
I guess that depends on why you’re being tailgated. Some people tailgate because they’re jerks and want to drive 20-30 miles over the posted speed limit. Others tailgate because the person ahead of them is driving below the speed of traffic and is impeding traffic flow. I honestly will tailgate people in those circumstances. If you do not want to drive at the speed of traffic flow, then move to the right lane. Otherwise, you’re dirupting the smooth flow of traffic, and that just makes it take longer for other people to get home too.
Outlander on December 14, 2008 at 12:32 PM
Driving in Manhattan isn’t so bad. There’s one stretch where you drive up 10th Avenue, and if the lights work out for you, you can go 40 to 50 blocks without stopping. It’s a little like a video game, with pedestrians running across in front you, or taxi cabs zipping over 4 lanes at a time, and you try not to hit them. It’s quite interesting.
Attila (Pillage Idiot) on December 14, 2008 at 12:34 PM
That’s why you have flashy Scion’s with poky I-4’s surrounded with cheapish gadgets and shiny wheels all around.
Here here. What I wouldn’t give for a Boss 302 powered car with a simplified interior.
Those were the days, unfortunately I was too young to have access to such cars when they were more affordable.
Bishop on December 14, 2008 at 12:35 PM
I know a ton of New Yorkers (people born and bred in NY) who do not even have driver’s licenses. You just rely on walking, public transit, and taxis. I would be positively terrified of driving in that environment, especially as a visitor who would not be familiar with the roads.
Outlander on December 14, 2008 at 12:35 PM
Oh you mean the walkers who pay no attention to the crosswalk signs at every intersection in Manhattan.
This is the main cause of traffic gridlock in Manhattan.
New Yorkers can’t be bothered with silly laws.
Firmworm on December 14, 2008 at 12:44 PM
What man has created, man can disable. I sure would. I don’t use the cell phone when driving, but there’s no reason my passenger can’t.
MrLynn on December 14, 2008 at 12:50 PM
Some idiot will rely on it, then when it fails he can sue Volvo. Surely it can fail.
Paul-Cincy on December 14, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Exsqueeze me? No he’ll pay the price for following too closely.
ronsfi on December 14, 2008 at 12:53 PM
If everyone doesn’t have one of these automatic brakes, they’re sure to cause chain-reaction crashes. Better would be warning lights and/or buzzers.
Re tailgaters, I used to slow to a crawl to tick them off, but no longer—too many crazies out there, and some of them have guns. I just get over and let them by; oh, I might yell at them, ineffectually (everyone has his windows closed these days).
Re multilane highways, it’s legal in some states (like here in Mass.) to pass on the right. In my view that just helps to make the roads more chaotic, since the basic principle of slow-on-the-right, fast-on-the-left goes by the boards.
What I’d like to see are lanes marked with speed ranges, something like this:
Right lane: 45-55 mph; center lane, 55-65 mph; left lane 65-75 mph. And make passing on the right illegal.
But won’t matter in 30 years; the cars will all be auto-controlled on major highways.
MrLynn on December 14, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Re tailgaters: What I’d really like is a tack dispenser. Or an oil squirter, like Mitchum had in Thunder Road (great movie, if you haven’t seen it). Fantasy-land, I know.
MrLynn on December 14, 2008 at 1:02 PM
Not to worry. In my hometown of Cleveland, a giant pork barrel project was rolled out where they converted a three-lane main city street into a two-lane street, with one of those lanes being a dedicated bus lane… ONly the bus lane is in the middle of the street, and passengers get on and off the bus in the median. It’s a genius design. Anyway, vehicular traffic on the street has dropped to zero, because you can’t use the street to commute anymore. But!! The bus police stand around and write $150 jaywalking tickets to anyone who dares to cross the barren street anywhere other than the crosswalk.
Outlander on December 14, 2008 at 1:12 PM
How fast are you driving when you are harassed by tailgaters? Oh, and please be careful using language like “omg, some of them have….guns!!” That can be construed as antigun hysteria, which gun grabbers want to use to take guns away from law abiding citizens, so the only people left with guns will be cops and robbers.
Outlander on December 14, 2008 at 1:13 PM
I usually AM going in the right lane when tailgaters come up on me. And to be honest I’m usually 3-5 miles OVER the speed limit. But they think they have the right to inspect my tailpipe from behind the wheel even if it’s icy and sleety out.
THEY”RE the most important ones driving, don’t you know – and how DARE I be on the road at the same time as them!
You better believe they get the brake treatment from me. Sometimes the hazard lights too. They zoom around me as soon as they get a chance. I never look to see whether or not they’re giving me the finger. I just mutter,
inviolet on December 14, 2008 at 1:14 PM
I love Volvo’s! I had one years ago. I sure do miss it. Here in Ca. on the Central Coast. If you don’t drive at least 85 to 90 MPH. In both lanes on the 101. They flip you off, make unsafe lane changes. It can be hairy. I drive 70 or 75. I keep in the slow lane. Or try to. When one gets on my tail. I flip the headlights on during the day. Which some have stepped on their brakes big time. I don’t get close to the back end of any car. I try to stay at least four car lengths. It isn’t easy here though. The others can call me anything they like. I don’t care. I love life, safety. One can be the most defensive driver and still something can happen. Here there are a lot of drunk drivers that are constantly getting busted.
sheebe on December 14, 2008 at 1:24 PM
The most “old muscle” I’ve been able to drive has consisted of a ’67 Mustang with a straight six and a late 70′s Cougar XR7 with a Windsor 351(IIRC). One’s garaged, the other sold off.
Both fun to drive despite the Mustang having no power steering and the Cougar being a test of how well you could parallel park it. Spartan interior on both, but easy to work with.
The closest that any of the transplants(in terms of the manufacturers themselves) have come is the used German car market. At the worst, AMG C43′s aren’t bad and starting to become affordable.
sethstorm on December 14, 2008 at 1:31 PM
So…uh, it’s not a good idea to talk on the phone and eat McDonald’s while driving through a construction zone in the rain? Hmm. (haha)
Tailgaters drive me crazy, though.
CP on December 14, 2008 at 1:39 PM
When you build something to be Idiot-Proof, you build a better Idiot.
cadetwithchips2 on December 14, 2008 at 2:01 PM
Can you say “subject to a recall?” After the first billion or so dollars worth of lawsuits, anyway.
Engineers just love to pre-make decisions for situations they don’t understand. From traffic jams to spilled coffee to chain-crashes, this is pure lawyer gold.
As to the “anti-cellphone device,” the first time they find someone dead in an upside down car in a ditch clutching a cellphone, that will be the end of that.
How about accepting the fact that the problems aren’t mechanical, stick to making good cars, and admit that the responsibility for these collisions almost always belongs to the driver?
Until you can engineer a better human, forget taking decisions away from both the bad and the good – it’s a wash.
Imagine having to jump out of traffic because someone’s coming in too fast behind you – and suddenly your car stops – BAM! Imagine a simple turn into a parking lot – the auto-sensor sees the divider in the entry, stops the car suddenly – BAM! Imagine a circuit failure at freeway speed – BAM!
This can go wrong in far, far more ways than it can go right. I’ve already had one BMW swap ends on me in traffic (no collision, thankfully) because the traction control activated the brakes in a corner – never again.
Merovign on December 14, 2008 at 2:21 PM
I love me a Lancia.
Avi Green on December 14, 2008 at 2:43 PM
Does not play well with others. Uses superior size and strength to bully and cow smaller children on the playground. Fails to heed warnings by playground authorities concerning correct social behavior.
unclesmrgol on December 14, 2008 at 3:05 PM
As a motorcyclist, these people need to be prosecuted for screwing around with a phone while driving the same as a drunk driver. I can always tell if someone is talking on a cell phone based on the vehicle shifting from right to left and over breaking. I had a car blow my be on the highway with a guy holding a phone in one hand and balancing a book in the other. What’s Volvo got in the works for that? How about an ejection seat as soon as the vehicle stops?
Hening on December 14, 2008 at 3:05 PM
Mercedes had this on the S class 2 years ago.
liquidflorian on December 14, 2008 at 3:08 PM
I watch out for all Volvo drivers since they are usually moonbats of limited physical ability and mental cognizance.
California recently passed laws against using cell phones while driving. I was behind a driver in an SUV a week ago with an out-of-state plate on his big fat rear-end, going very slowly, weaving from side to side. Guess what his silhouette looked like from behind: hand holding something to ear, as he tooled merrily down two lanes of traffic, brake lights sparkling intermittently. Jerk.
NahnCee on December 14, 2008 at 3:25 PM
How long until kids decide to make it a sport to cut in front of Volvos as close as possible and tap their brakes, just to watch the fireworks. Great fun for all.
Splinter on December 14, 2008 at 3:38 PM
How long before some fun loving kids decide to make a sport of cutting in front of Volvos as close as possible and slowing abruptly just to watch the fireworks. Should be great fun for all!
Splinter on December 14, 2008 at 3:45 PM
I take issue with the Volvo moonbat comment. A Volvo saved my life when a MOONBAT in big ass Buick drove right through a stop sign and using my SWIFT mental cognizance I swerved to avoid them and ended up hitting the fire hydrant instead of the MOONBAT, saving both our lives. By the way the MOONBAT tried to leave the scene of the accident but I jumped out of my Volvo and he saw me taking his license number so he came back. I truly hate it when people associate car models with stereotyping the people driving them.
Done That on December 14, 2008 at 3:55 PM
Not that I know of, but it certainly sounds like him.
I don’t know a ton, but a good friend of mine is the same. He came down to Texas for college and considered getting a license then but just never did. It was much harder not to have one here, but he made it somehow.
Esthier on December 14, 2008 at 4:21 PM
Slower traffic keep right…….it’s the law.
Unfortunately, highway engineers are fools and put the signs on the RIGHTHAND SIDE OF THE ROAD……D’oh!!
Anyone driving 70+MPH in the left lane is fine by me (assuming the other lanes are moving more slowly, which can be rare here in Cali. where drivers go 75+ consistantly on the highways.)
omnipotent on December 14, 2008 at 6:11 PM
Sure, others come in and grab that space in front of you, but they don’t stay long; they are in and out so quickly that I usually don’t even have to adjust for them. As far as the effect on drivers behind you, by leaving some space the play with you can make a much smoother drive for everyone behind you. My “sport” is to see how far I can go in rush hour without having to use my brakes, and still maintain the pace of the traffic. That really forces you to pay attention not only to what is in front of you, but also to what is wa-a-ay in front of you, and alongside you too.
Yep, sure will. And that is NOT what is needed.
An even better device would be one that emits a signal that ‘wipes’ your Blackberry or cell phone, and all those of your passengers, too. You would probably remember that…
ss396 on December 14, 2008 at 6:59 PM
Until it malfunctions while you are going 65 on the interstate.
JellyToast on December 14, 2008 at 7:08 PM
Someone please help me with this photo. The mirror reflects a woman’s face, but the steering wheel grip looks way too masculine, as well as the cuffed shirt. Does LGF have to bust Ed for using doctored photos from Reuters or something?
Mark30339 on December 14, 2008 at 8:32 PM
But those are an important warning indicator to other drivers that the car belongs to a bad driver (i.e., anyone who’d willingly hang something from their mirror to block their view), and that they should stay as far away as possible.
Unrepaired body damage is another such indicator. It means that the driver is prone to hit things and/or is underinsured, since if the damage were someone else’s fault or they had enough coverage, they would have gotten it fixed.
You’d better do so only if you’re already in the rightmost lane, or as you’re moving over to let them pass. Otherwise, you’re just as much of a jerk as the tailgater.
I hope that will make you happy, as you’ll be spending the rest of that person’s days writing checks for fresh tires on the wheelchair, home care assistance, lost income, etc.
Are you kidding? They knocked Volvos off the list years ago. Nothing against Toyota, as it was an amazing engineering achievement on their part to design a car that runs on smug liberal self-righteousness and passive aggression.
I’ve been saying for years that people would drive a hell of a lot better if their cars had a rusty spike protruding out from the steering column toward the driver.
I hate the idea of “auto-brake” technology: it’s just an enabler of unsafe and inattentive driving habits. When people rely on technology to drive for them, they use it as an excuse to let their own alertness and other skills atrophy. It started with automatic transmissions: people who can’t be bothered to learn how to clutch and shift are usually not very skillful drivers otherwise either. Then, GPS navigation systems proliferated, and now people are forgetting how to find their way around with a simple map.
Sorry, but stereotypes usually have some basis in reality. There are counterexamples to every trend, of course — you may be one — and as I pointed out earlier, the “under-the-speed-limit-in-the-left-lane-Volvo-driver” has been largely replaced by the Prius driver, but there were enough such Volvo drivers once upon a time to make it a truthful stereotype. Certain cars attract certain types of buyers more than others; that’s a simple fact.
Alex_SF on December 14, 2008 at 8:36 PM
Cars need IFF so police can stop chases dead in their tracks. Similar to an onStar stop by police.
This thing by Volvo is a start, I mean a stop.
Mojave Mark on December 14, 2008 at 10:01 PM
I guess I need to spell out to some folks that I was using hyperbole (/h?). I thought the ridiculousness of the statement was apparent. Pardon my assumption of cognizance. For the record, I don’t want to cripple anyone (except the
journalistanimal who chucked his loafers at the President of the United States of America).omnipotent on December 14, 2008 at 10:27 PM
My brother (something of a car buff) writes,
As I said above, in 30 years or so all major highways will be auto-control, and you won’t be allowed on them with a car that isn’t equipped for it. Eventually (another 30 years, maybe) you’ll just get in a car, punch up an address, and it’ll take you there. ‘Driving’ will be an archaism, like ‘dialing’ the telephone.
MrLynn on December 14, 2008 at 10:44 PM
So how do we get these sort of things installed on your average Congressional spending seat? If they vote to overspend or more bailouts, the seat drops to the floor…
droofus on December 15, 2008 at 1:49 AM
Not only is she a danger to navigation with bad taste in decor, but she also has ‘man-hands’.
Hening on December 15, 2008 at 8:22 AM
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