> Don't live in fear emax, life's too short
Exactly this comes to my mind for those who hunt for AEB or LKA. As a passionate long-distance motorbike driver for about 50 years now, I have a different approach to traveling and driving. One without fear - but with respect to the risk which every human being takes with each action in their life.
I had three traffic accidents in my life. Two of which were ridiculous: I fell over with my motorbike. Once on the left side, another time on the right side. The reason in both cases was a highly packed vehicle with a high center of gravity, combined with a whole in the asphalt where my foot didn't reach firm ground. As my motorbike is quite high and my legs are short, I fell over.
The third accident was a youthful sin: The first snow, and after two beers I felt the urge to drift in the snow in the dark with my 180 HP BMW. I hit a wall (in a soft angle however), and had a damage of 8000 DM, which was in that time the value of todays 8000 Euros. Believe me, I've learned my lessons.
No assistance system you can currently find in modern cars could have helped to avoid any of them. Not even an alcohol-blockade which is available in current Volvos. In that time (it was in the eighties), the alcohol-limit was much higher than two beers. And a stability control had never known that there was a wall.
All three cases were caused by own hubris, even the fell-overs.
As a pilot, I see evolving a critical problem with assistance systems: The pilots (and drivers as well) forget how to fly or to drive. And this is not some legend, it is indeed a more and more arising discussion of professionals all over the world. If you are seriously interested in understanding the "Automation Paradox", I recommend this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ESJH1NLMLs
I would agree, that there are many people outside which are simply overwhelmed with driving a car. But the question is: Should they really be allowed to drive always and everywhere? - e.g. in cities at rush-hours, at night, in the rain, in the snow, in the fog, in the storm?
Another thing is, that people get more and more older. And older is, as a matter of fact, from a certain age on (!), a (statistical!) factor to failures. But if young people make their driving license with a bunch of assistants active during their driving lessons (in Germany you need about 30!!), they will never be able to really control their car in a critical situation which is not covered by some assistant. I remember, when I made my driving license, that I had to learn how to brake as efficiently as possible on the wet and the dry as well. And today? ABS, yeah!
I myself have made my first kilometers in the age of 14, when learning is an easy thing. And they were almost exclusively driven in off-road terrain (because I hadn't a driving license). This was a really good training. So maybe I have an advantage in this respect.
But in half a century of being on the road, I as well developed a sense for danger. This doesn't of course guarantee accident-free driving. But it helps a lot. And in some rental cars I have experienced how dangerous assistant systems can be, as they clash with my style of driving and want to do things which sometimes exactly counteract what
I have in mind.
No, thank you. Nannies everywhere? The world is risky. This has to be accepted, and people have to take over responsibility for what they do, in particular if they are in fact not capable to do, what they claim to.
