Cars - Driver Assistance options

[Thud]

Any of you have them fancy Driver Assistance options, like autonomous cruise control, rear cross traffic sensors, lane departure warnings, blind spot warning, autonomous braking, etc?

Some of them sound good to me but not always easy to test on a test drive. Do any of you have them and use them, or purposely turn them off?

Good to have or worthless junk?

[Shafpocalypse Now]

Yeah..pretty unobtrusive except the lane thing...if I cross a line, the wheel will nudge the car back over automatically, which can happen while you're making a manual adjustment and jerk the vehicle a bit.

I keep 'em on. I like the blind spot notifications, just a light pops up in the mirror if someone is there and in that area.

[Alfred_E._Neuman]

The ones on the Mercedes I work on they work great. There's active and passive systems. For the passive lane assist and wake-up-if-you-fall-asleep, they use a cell phone vibration motor in the steering wheel. Drive too long without steering wheel input or drift too near the next car next to you or over the lines and it shakes the wheel to get your attention.

The active lane assist and brake assist will straight up keep you out of a wreck.

Apparently the latest S class has all the sensors needed to go fully autonomous. Radar out the azz and what not. It's so bad ass that it sees how rough the road is up ahead and adjusts the suspension accordingly.

[johno]

My wife has the blind spot warning, the cruise control radar, and the automatic braking on her fancy-pants Acura MDX.
We paid extra for those features and I think they are worth the money. To me, those safety features (especially including the side airbags & curtains!) are the only good reason to buy a new car.

[Thud]

To me, those safety features (especially including the side airbags & curtains!) are the only good reason to buy a new car.

Yeah, that's it exactly. I need to replace my old beater. Were it just for me I'd be happy with something used for ~$15K, but my wife is a lousy driver and my kid is 14 and soon to be a lethal weapon, so for them I'm looking new and with the options, pushing the price to the $30K area. It's a big jump in price, but the stakes are high.

[johno]

my wife is a lousy driver and my kid is 14 and soon to be a lethal weapon, so for them I'm looking new and with the options, pushing the price to the $30K area. It's a big jump in price, but the stakes are high.

You're a good man.

Car safety has advanced greatly in the last few decades. As a fire fighter, I've seen people come out of horrific wrecks of their new cars with barely a scratch. And I've also seen kids killed because their cars lacked modern airbags. IMO, it's worth the cost.

[Pinky]

My 2001 has front and side curtain airbags, and latch connections in the back for the little one. Would there still be a large improvement in safety if I bought a new(er) car?

[johno]

IMO, the side curtain airbags are very important, as well as the IIHS rating of your particular model. I couldn't say whether the other features are a significant safety improvement. Not sure if there's even data on that yet.

[johno]

Speaking of auto safety:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-911-lifel ... D_topRight

[Pinky]

IMO, the side curtain airbags are very important, as well as the IIHS rating of your particular model. I couldn't say whether the other features are a significant safety improvement. Not sure if there's even data on that yet.

I was wrong. I have side tube airbags instead of curtains. I haven't found data on how much better the curtains are.

[DrDonkeyLove]

The ones on the Mercedes I work on they work great. There's active and passive systems. For the passive lane assist and wake-up-if-you-fall-asleep, they use a cell phone vibration motor in the steering wheel. Drive too long without steering wheel input or drift too near the next car next to you or over the lines and it shakes the wheel to get your attention.

The active lane assist and brake assist will straight up keep you out of a wreck.

Apparently the latest S class has all the sensors needed to go fully autonomous. Radar out the azz and what not. It's so bad ass that it sees how rough the road is up ahead and adjusts the suspension accordingly.

I drove a Mercedes SUV one evening that had these features and it was great. Part of the ride was in a small snowstorm and the car knew enough to turn off the passive lane assist.

Also loved that the side mirror turned itself to night time mode when someone passed me.

[johno]

Once they work out the bugs, driverless cars will save tens of thousands of lives each year. And make commutes much less annoying.

[tough old man]

Most of the upper end cars and trucks I sell (Ford and Lincoln) have all the features and more. All are useful and can be lifesaving if you use them properly.

[tough old man]

Once they work out the bugs, driverless cars will save tens of thousands of lives each year. And make commutes much less annoying.

Honestly, from what I've seen, probably not. Still too much room for human error. Panic and hit the brakes: the car computer assumes you have control. Same for steering ect. Noting is 100% human override.

[j-cubed]

My 2001 has front and side curtain airbags, and latch connections in the back for the little one. Would there still be a large improvement in safety if I bought a new(er) car?

Airbags are for surviving the crash.
Anti-lock brakes, traction control, crash avoidance, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warnings, sleeping warnings, etc are all to help keep you out of an accident in the first place.

I won't buy another car without a solid traction control system, or a rear camera, your 2001 may or may not have an advanced traction control system. The Subaru Forester I just got my wife has their crash avoidance system "Eyesight". In a year or so, I'll probably have a better feel for how well that works.

Right now, I think some car makers systems are better than others. There are likely reviews online.

[johno]

Story: I was driving my wife's Acura when an accident happened 30-40 feet in front of us. The car hit the brakes before I could, and snugged up our seatbelts for possible impact.

*****

tom, you're probably right about driverless cars at present. But I think they'll come a long way in the next ten years.

[Blaidd Drwg]

I used to eschew all things electronic in the driving interface...until I test rode a BMW GS, Big Ass Dakar bike with ABS and traction control. Doing stoppies on gravel with a 500plus pound motorcycle convinced me of the utility.

[Pinky]

My 2001 has front and side curtain airbags, and latch connections in the back for the little one. Would there still be a large improvement in safety if I bought a new(er) car?

Airbags are for surviving the crash.
Anti-lock brakes, traction control, crash avoidance, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warnings, sleeping warnings, etc are all to help keep you out of an accident in the first place.

I won't buy another car without a solid traction control system, or a rear camera,

I agree wrt traction control (and my car does have it), but I'm surprised to see a rear camera rated so highly. What does it do, other that serve as a crutch when parallel parking?

[Blaidd Drwg]

My 2001 has front and side curtain airbags, and latch connections in the back for the little one. Would there still be a large improvement in safety if I bought a new(er) car?

Airbags are for surviving the crash.
Anti-lock brakes, traction control, crash avoidance, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warnings, sleeping warnings, etc are all to help keep you out of an accident in the first place.

I won't buy another car without a solid traction control system, or a rear camera,

I agree wrt traction control (and my car does have it), but I'm surprised to see a rear camera rated so highly. What does it do, other that serve as a crutch when parallel parking?

The rear camera was a thing I most did not want..it is the only feature now I really really rely on in an urban env. parking both parallel and in lots. It's a surprisingly useful feature.

[tough old man]

Rear view cameras will be standard by law soon. 360 and multiple view front cameras are awesome too

[Alfred_E._Neuman]

Rear view cameras will be standard by law soon. 360 and multiple view front cameras are awesome too

Some of the newer SUV's I work on have this weird fish eye lens under each rear view mirror that they turn into an aerial view of the car on the dash screen, then project your wheel path based on steering wheel angle. Fucking amazing.

[j-cubed]

My 2001 has front and side curtain airbags, and latch connections in the back for the little one. Would there still be a large improvement in safety if I bought a new(er) car?

Airbags are for surviving the crash.
Anti-lock brakes, traction control, crash avoidance, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warnings, sleeping warnings, etc are all to help keep you out of an accident in the first place.

I won't buy another car without a solid traction control system, or a rear camera,

I agree wrt traction control (and my car does have it), but I'm surprised to see a rear camera rated so highly. What does it do, other that serve as a crutch when parallel parking?

Corner lot and neighborhood with a ton of kids. I can look over both shoulders, start to back out and suddenly a kid on a bike goes flying by. Rear view camera helps with that. Plus shopping carts and crap let lying around in parking lots.

[j-cubed]

My 2001 has front and side curtain airbags, and latch connections in the back for the little one. Would there still be a large improvement in safety if I bought a new(er) car?

Airbags are for surviving the crash.
Anti-lock brakes, traction control, crash avoidance, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warnings, sleeping warnings, etc are all to help keep you out of an accident in the first place.

I won't buy another car without a solid traction control system, or a rear camera,

I agree wrt traction control (and my car does have it), but I'm surprised to see a rear camera rated so highly. What does it do, other that serve as a crutch when parallel parking?

Corner lot and neighborhood with a ton of kids. I can look over both shoulders, start to back out and suddenly a kid on a bike goes flying by. Rear view camera helps with that. Plus shopping carts and crap let lying around in parking lots.