The inevitable rebuttal:
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Iâm really not sure that these systems make money for anyone very much and are aimed at reducing emissions, principally particulates, in heavily congested cities where you can be spending at least as much time not moving as making progress towards your destination.
Increasingly it is local authorities which are insisting that drivers stop their engines when not moving.
So you advocate removing all safety equipment from cars? Seatbelts? crumple zones? Anti-lock brakes?
Just replace it all by driver awareness?
Got any evidence of that ?
Well, large and comfortable and I think JC himself (Clarkson, if you are thinking that someone had their 2nd coming and spent their time on car reviews) gave it a huge thumbs up for practicality.
But not the most eco-friendly machine around. Official is, what, 25mpg?
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I personally think he misses the point, comparing fuel economy and co2 .
For the average man on the street the upfront cost is so much more, the new corsa was 12 k ÂŁ and electric versions 25-28k I canât remember exactly.
Even if electric is a fraction of the price of petrol/diesel there is no way that difference will be made up over the life of the car.
Second point the co2, pollution and cost of shipping all the battery materials from mainly South America cancels out any gain.
I think the EU think not in our backyard so we donât care, same as sending tons of plastic waste to Thailand and rest of Asia because itâs cheaper than recycling, even though it gets buried and dumped, it wouldnât surprise me if it gets dumped at sea.
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Did i say that, i was talking about these damn silly distance braking features. Driver awareness is in my books under better driving skills. Maybe not yours.
yes my own person.
If you do the mileage i do, you wouldnt be sat in a scut of a vehicle for god knows how many hours. Plus driving through the Alps during the winter months having FWD is just a little bit of a bonus. It does very well on Petrol. But as i pay the fuel bill and not you then i dont see why you have an interest.
I dont make it a habit of driving in them. Public transport or taxis are much more easier and economical to use. I notice you like quoting internet articles in your sermons, is this due to lack of personal knowledge or experience?
EV prices are generally pretty ludicrous - I guess they will fall with time.
No you didnât but I was trying to make the point that modern cars have gradually acquired safety features and collision-avoidance measures such as auto breaking is only a development of that - to deny the usefulness of increased safety looks a bit Luddite.
As it happens driver awareness is not in my books under âbetter driving skillsâ - itâs in my books under essential driving skills.
But an electronic system is likely to react faster and more consistently than a human driver - good drivers know to cadence brake in slippery conditions but no-one can do it as well as an ABS system (whatever they say or think).
Huh? I was talking about your comment about collision avoidance systems being a hazard on the autobhan. Your XC90 doesnât have one does it?
Because âI can afford a gas guzzler so I donât careâ is not a terribly enlightened attitude for the 21st century.
Me neither as it happens so, although our ânew carâ has one (stop-start system) it doesnât kick in all that much.
No, it is because I like to back up my own knowledge or experience with some evidence rather than just making unsubstantiated claims.
Your claim, as I recall, was that start-stop systems increased emissions and were just there to make the car manufacturers more money - my counter (with some evidence) is that they do (reduce emissions) and have been encouraged/introduced as a result of action by city authorities who wish to improve air quality (plus they improve the official MPG and emissions a bit which, I agree, does the manufacturers no harm).
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The link I made earlier from seeing machines show eye tracking software, they seem the leader in the field. They are working with different manufacturers on how it alerts the driver when they are not paying attention. Normally buzzers, or seats that vibrate but can also stop the car or alert police or emergency services. They seem to have got contracts with Mercedes, and bmw and the biggest American makes.
Also possible to detect impaired drivers before the car is started by their eyes, Volvo have said new models will have alcohol detection and drugs.
So new cars will be watching you, I can see in a few years that the car will notify the dvlc or equivalent and speeding tickets sent straight to your address.
Even semi autonomous cars will need this as the car has to know when the driver is able to take back control.
The big problem with Teslaâs is that there is no eye tracking and just a simple torque device on the steering wheel which can be fooled be balancing a bottle there, this wonât be enough after 2022 to comply with the new EU rules.
yep, eyeballs mk1.
Once again did i insinuate this. I drive the xc for very differing reasons as âi can afford oneâ.
Personally as the driver of a brand new (leased) car I love all the added safety features and they have definitely proved useful on occasion. Yes, I agree we should all drive perfectly all of the time but thatâs just unrealistic and anything that helps has got to be good.
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Having so nearly been taken out today in an ever so close collision I am delighted for whatever safety features are coming our way.
It was one of those incidents that would have been the end of my wife and I - so bring on the safety measures ASAP.
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You kind-of did with âBut as i pay the fuel bill and not you then i dont see why you have an interest.â
Per my comments above I am generally in favour of these things - but I think that some of the plans for the 2022 legislation are possibly a step too far, certainly to be introduced all at once and with technology which is still unproven - to an extent Iâd almost rather the car did the driving autonomously than nanny me quite that much (in fact itâs possible that Iâm closer to Rogerâs view than he thinks).
I think there are things that will help, but a dangerous driver doesnât change his spots.
I think driver monitoring is great on buses and wagons as a lot do way too many hours driving and the accidents are a lot worse than just cars.
But I could show you a diagram showing all the cameras and radar, lidar, that is suppost to be coming before 2030 but not mandatory. Even doing away with mirrors and using cameras as they are not obstructed .
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Iâd be in favour of that - âishâ anyway.
However there are at least two problems that immediately spring to mind - the first is mud/general road grime on the lens which doesnât tend to be so much of a problem with mirrors.
The second is being able to see the screen in the car - our Mazda infotainment/reversing camera screen becomes useless in anything approaching bright sunlight.
The resolution needs to be high enough as well. Yes, I know thatâs three things 
I agree with you. The bit of road, about 30km, I take to and from work every day is horrific, at least one near miss most mornings, horrible and god knows what it is doing to my blood pressure.
It has been widened, so there are fewer cars which just fall off the road and end up in the vines, but thereâs still roughly one every 3 weeks max (down from one every 10 days).
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Glad you are both ok x
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Glad you are both ok Matt,
I donât think any kind of safety technology will help the french with their driving, with their mentality and reckless driving styles.
Mmm⌠having just got back from UK⌠I can confirm that drivers seem to be crazy and dangerous over there too⌠although I have no way of confirming their nationality⌠
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Come come Stella, we are all to a man or woman, complete speed-freak roadhog drivemaniacs. It is a well known fact 
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Very diplomatic,
But with the hot headed ness , tailgating, overtaking on corners and crest of hills, use of mobiles as here itâs the countryside, and excessive speeding. I also know of 2 people verbally threatened in the last 3 months, one gentleman in his 70)s was hit and his keys thrown in the hedge.
I totally disagree with your view.
Well I drive in the UK all the time and I donât think Stella is far from the truth
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