What's the forums verdict on…..Driver aids?

New/new-to-me car time to replace the current 11yr old heap
I’m considering a Subaru Forester which can be had with “Eyesight” which is a combination of auto cruise control and braking, lane departure assist and other stuff.
A Mazda CX-5 is also on the list which has a whole heap of accronyms as part of a “technology” package.
Long gone are the days when I actually enjoyed driving and derided auto gearboxes so Im more interested in convenience than pleasure (!) and can’t wait for fully automated cars to do all the driving…But, for now, is this all hype or genuinely useful?

good aids or bad aids?

I sometimes wonder that if I had lane assist, radar controled cruise etc would I actually be driving on the motorway or just sort of sitting there – they say they can out-react and out-brake humans now.

I might doze off, and wake up in Hull or Loire or something.

err anyway a mate has a merc that does tons of clever stuff to help avoid a smash and he reckons it’s helped a couple of times when others have done something daft.

wake up in Hull

😯

Lane assist – I only turn it on if I feel that I’m likely to drop off. Road sign recognition is good. Parallel parking is good. Auto headlights and wipers superb. Auto main beam – not so good – turned that off. Never tried the active city stop. Blind spot radar – mostly annoying, especially at night.

Lane assist – I only turn it on if I feel that I’m likely to drop off.

😯

Dear God, hand your license in now please

Rockhopper has it.
It encourages you to drive when you’re falling asleep. How can this be a good idea?

APF

In my younger years I would have been horrified – I wanted a proper car with a proper clutch, gearbox and manual choke to prove to everyone I could master the mechanical beast that was my Mk3 Escort. In my wiser and more mature years the more the car can do the better. Driving is no longer fun – cars are too fast and capable – even non-sporty cars, and have outgrown the road network and the capabilities of the drivers and roads are too busy so you spend most of your time stationary in a jam. Driverless cars are the next logical step to remove the weakest link and all these gadgets are all the individual elements of tech that are needed for a driverless car.

In 50 years time people will look back in horror and disbelief that actual people were allowed to control metal weapons of mass destruction around with thousands of people a year being killed in the UK and over a million people a year globally.

Adaptive cruise control is wonderful on busy motorways. Set a distance and max speed and it deals with keeping a safe gap from the car in front. Its not as if your mind would switch off, with lots of cars at speed in close proximity there’s still plenty to be keeping track of, and that’s easier to do when you’re not micromanaging the throttle to keep a gap. Or more commonly, allow gaps to close up until there’s not enough reaction time.

I’m also not so proud as to admit that the emergency braking warning / assist stuff has saved me from a motorway shunt, wasn’t using ACC and it was quicker than I was to spot that traffic in front had suddenly braked.

Auto lights – handy. Parking sensors / cameras too. Other stuff like lane departure warning I’m not fussed about and have been an annoyance in some cars I’ve driven.

As simon_g says, auto lights/wipers are very handy, just switch on and forget, more-or-less, I use cruise control much of the time on motorway/dual carriageway driving, if it’s for extended periods, and adaptive cruise control does work well, it reacted to an artic that pulled across into the lane next to me, then inexplicably started snaking violently as I got close, the warning and braking was working before I even got my foot on the brake.
Auto-dip, well, I’ve only got limited experience, on an almost new Galaxy, and it seemed very quick to react, quicker than I was on unfamiliar lanes where a road was unexpectedly closed and my satnav got very confused, one less thing to think about, letting me concentrate on checking road signs and junctions.

I’ve had lane assist and blind spot radar in hire cars.

I like to think I wouldn’t drive tired enough to need lane assist but it does give you a gentle slap if you overtake without indicating which probably reinforces good behaviour. Blind spot radar I really liked. I like to believe I am good at checking blind spots but I found it reassuring, especially in an unusual car.

Autolights are a no brainer (because it stops you leaving the lights on for a start!). I have auto wipers which I could live without as the threshold is slightly wrong for me (starts too soon, stops too late).

Have used autoparking once, it takes a leap of faith, but is better than at least half the people I see reverse parking. Parking sensors and reversing cameras are definitely not a gimick.

I have a fear that this transitional period between fully manually controlled cars and fully automated ones could be rather dangerous as more drivers relax and let the car do much of the work. Over reliance will breed complacency and any car I drive with auto lights, parking, wipers, I always try to set to manual. Obviously ABS, auto choke, ESP / TCS are beneficial but systems that allow a drop in concentration or can switch on unexpectedly make me uneasy, both as a driver and cyclist.

Well developed, anger free, fully automated cars can’t come soon enough.

Driving is no longer fun – cars are too fast and capable – even non-sporty cars, and have outgrown the road network

So, get an old car; No airbags, no side protection, no seat belts even. Makes you a far safer driver!
AS for Automatic headlights- they don’t work in fog. And who had the effing stupid idea of driving lights on the front only?

Of all of the options, the one I’d be most interested in is the adaptive cruise control but not so much for flowing traffic – I think it would be more useful in very slow stop-start traffic where you would otherwise be inching forward a few feet, stopping for a few seconds and then inching forward again.
Any downsides to this? Are these systems (reasonably) foolproof?

I had it on a hire car I had and turned it all off. The cruise control let you get far too close to the car in front and the lane assist was distracting

Nothing’s foolproof, humans are inherently poor at making decisions, hence the proliferation of thought replacement schematics.

My Mother doesn’t need any other channel on her DAB ICE system than R3.

The cruise control let you get far too close to the car in front

The distance is configurable no?

All stuff to go wrong and cost a fortune to fix?? That’s my take on electrics in cars/bikes, but some day I wont have a choice.

The distance is configurable no?

Adaptive is yes or you can adjudt the speed yourself and even stop yourself getting too close. 😐

So, get an old car; No airbags, no side protection, no seat belts even. Makes you a far safer driver!

Does it or just a perception?
Giving full concentration to the road and having the aids as a backup is probably a lot safer, cruise and adaptive cruise makes motorway driving a lot smoother with loads less people swinging between 60-85mph as their concentration slips, a quick reminder something is in your blindspot too means your made more aware.

Problem is for older drivers it may seem like a bit of an annoyance but it probably saves you that 1 in 1000 times you didn’t look or you glanced past the car in front braking etc.

all the motorway driving aids need to be to a common protocol and wireless ready so that smart motorways can control car spacing.

molgrips – not on the car I had that I could find.

so that smart motorways can control car spacing. malicious hackers can cause traffic chaos

ftfy.

I’d be very wary of ‘internet of things’ motor vehicles – cars have already proven vulnerable to hacks via their bluetooth capability.

Anyone seen the video of the tesla that sounds an alarm before there’s an accident up ahead?

apparently they bounce radar under the car in front so they can see if the car that’s two ahead is braking heavily

Road sign recognition

Wha? Whasdatden?

I’d like to see indicators come on if the steering wheel rotates 12 degrees from centre.

I’d like to see indicators come on if the steering wheel rotates 12 degrees from centre.

I’m a bit of a traditionalist but I’d prefer they came on before the manoeuvre started.

I’d like to see indicators come on if the steering wheel rotates 12 degrees from centre.

Unfortunately I think that would be self-defeating as people would just start relying on it instead properly indicating before they begin the manoeuvre.

A more effective measure would be a car that loudly told you off for not indicating before a manoeuvre. But that would never sell.

Likewise a system that turns down your stereo and makes an annoying noise when you exceed the speed limit by a 10% margin would be pretty effective (and would still allow for momentary situations where a little excess speed might be safer).

I’d like to see lane assist to include bloody cycle lanes. An Evoque nearly barged me into the kerb this morning. Is steering really that hard??

MrsG latest car (I think she ticked off every option) has adaptive cruise control (works well on M-way and can set distance), blind spot monitoring (works well), lane departure warning (OK), road sign monitoring (to tell you the speed limits), headlights that bend around on coming cars (so it maintains more full beam – works well) monitors you for becoming tired (excellent really good at detecting tiredness) and collision avoidance braking. All good but you still have to drive it carefully.

I had a brand new Insignia as a hire car in Stockholm before Christmas with a whole bunch of toys in. I have no idea whether the cruise control was adaptive or not, but it kept me at a constant speed after I worked out how to use it.

The parking assist/aids/help thing that it had drove me mad though. Lots of beeps in two different tones and it went into overdrive when someone walked around the front of the car as I was reversing. A good idea I’ll bet, but not for me.

Folks don’t use indicators these days, it’s only those of my age and older that seem to have any consideration or mindfulness to use them, hence my request.

I followed an Astra back home earlier from a run i did, 13 plate so they should have worked. Nope not once did those yellow flashy things flash, not even pulling out of 4 T junctions, 3 roundabouts.

Probably why I posted ^^ my frustration about the use.

And who had the effing stupid idea of driving lights on the front only?

Amazes me how many people just drive around with those on at night and dont realise they have no rear lights on at all. Almost as amazing as how little other drivers care and dont attempt to flash/honk/signal these drivers that are driving around with no lights on.

Have shared this story before but Volvo where demostrating their pedestrian alert/auto braking feature (admitedly a few years ago), guy got into the car, dummy pushed out in front, driver kept foot on accelerator and smashed dummy and barrier and car 🙂 Priceless. Sadly no video exists.

Auto aids, not for me. If manufacturers want to put them in the car then ok but I will need to be able to disactivte. Never used cruise control in UK, rarely in France a bit in US where limit was 55. Lane assist etc ? Better safety feature is to pay proper attention.

When they reduced the speed limits in the US to 55 accidents and deaths decreased dramatically. More chance to avoid a crash and less chance of it being fatal/serious if speeds are lower. Inconveninet truths for most of us.

We’ve most of the above on a car we recently bought, plus heads-up display.

This is my favourite, tells you speed, speed limit, cruise or limit speed (if set), any Sat/Nav instructions plus the proximity warning (mine is set to close, as I drive a BMW 🙂 ) and all just in eyeline (can be moved around).

Plus all settings are ‘keyed’ to the driver, so it knows which one of us is in the car and sets it as you unlock it.

I’d like cars to be fitted with a shock system in the drivers seat. So every 30 seconds after turning on your fog lights you get a gentle reminder that perhaps you don’t need them on.

Auto lights – handy.

I wonder. Driving out of London in poor visibility before Xmas on the A3. It was grey and misty and contrast was poor. I had my lights on and most other vehicles did too. It was much easier to pick out vehicles that did (both tail lights and approaching from behind in mirrors).

Of the cars that *didn’t* have lights on my perception was that they were ‘high end’ vehicles – Mercs, Range Rovers etc. My guess was that these had auto headlight systems which had decided it was bright enough that they weren’t needed?

My guess was that these had auto headlight systems which had decided it was bright enough that they weren’t needed?

Our Ford has the same system – it can get confused in fog.

I just override it if I think I need lights.

And who had the effing stupid idea of driving lights on the front only?
Amazes me how many people just drive around with those on at night and don’t realise they have no rear lights on at all.

I assume it’s because the DRL’s activate the dashboard lights, so they’re always lit, and you don’t get the visual clue that it’s getting dim and you’re lights aren’t on. Yep, it’s poor implementation.