"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.
If only an automaker would come up with a system to keep that mope from hitting the guy ahead, spoiling everyone else's dinner—and insurance premiums."
Volvo unveils its City Safety which will be standard on its 2010 XC60 crossover and which will activate the anti-lock brakes at speeds less than 9 m.p.h if it senses via infrared imaging, that a car ahead of you is going slower than you or is stopped. At faster speeds, the system brakes and cuts fuel flow to the engine but only to slow you down to reduce impact force.
Hey, we’re all for driver safety and improving the design of automobiles from a safety perspective but like some minivans that come equipped with a speed governor for driving around curves, at what point does the driver decision-making being removed from the equation actually hinder automotive safety?
Human nature being what it is, knowing you have this device in your car, are you more or less inclined to text away while crawling through rush hour traffic having been provided this (false?) sense of security?
Just asking...
Monday, December 15, 2008
So, just how does this actually improve driver safety?
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2 comments:
Gee, did they ever think about having the driver, oh I don't know, *drive*, instead of doing all that other stuff?
Or is that based on the out dated and old fashion concept of personal responsibility? How silly of me, I keep forgetting that no one is responsible for themselves anymore.
There is an existential cultural thread through this and the bailouts that you nail on the head, O@H.
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