New car safety features:

[meierlde]

First because they become required on 2018 models backup cameras are becoming ubiquitous on cars. Second you can find Adaptive cruise control on some low end models with out having to buy other dodads. The adaptive cruse control slows down if you get to close to the vehicle in front. Associated with this is collision damage mitigation that will apply the brakes hard if a collision is imminent to at least minimize the damage. Add lane departure warning (if there are dashed lines on the pavement, and road departure warning if you run over a solid line). Some cars even steer you back in line besides letting you know about the departure with chimes and lights. Some have blind spot detection as well.
In one sense we see some of the tech needed for the eventual self driving car coming to aid the driver and note in particular if the driver dozes off (land departure warning etc) and make enough racket to wake the driver up.

 

[Rustic23]

(land departure warning etc)

If my car departs Land I sure hope it would give me a warning

I have been looking at the Honda Pilot and the Acura MDX. Want another SUV, and their safety package seems to be just about right. I have a car now with Lane Departure Warning, and it is almost worthless. We drive a lot on narrow country roads. It goes off constantly. It is better on the hwy.

 

[travelover]

I'm personally excited about the new safety features and plan to buy a vehicle with them. I will probably keep my next car at east 10 years at which time I'll be 74 and will appreciate anything that helps keep me accident free.

The current Pilot has a nice suite of safety features and the 2017 Highlander will as well.

 

[pb4uski]

We passed on lane departure warning and the automatic braking on our new car and truck. The new car has a back-up camera (which is handy) and blind-spot detections (which is very handy).

 

[swakyaby]

My latest car has the backup camera, adaptive cruise control, collision avoidance feature and more, and I love these new features. I know I will insist that any future car I buy must have these great features. I do agree that the land departure warning is more annoying than helpful--if I don't turn on the turn signal early enough before changing lanes, I get this vibration/buzz through the steering wheel. I've never unintentionally crossed lanes; and construction zones cause the warning signal to activate repeatedly.

 

[W2R]

I hate all this electronic babysitting and I'm really glad I only have 23,500 miles so far on my 2009 Venza. Maybe it will be my last car. I call it my "nanny car" because it has too much of this kind of stuff already. I want to drive my car myself. [/crabby_old_lady]

 

[TrvlBug]

Love all the safety features on my 2016 Accura RDX especially the blind spot indicator. I just have to remember when driving my 7 year old car that only has a backup camera that it won't beep at me. During the first two weeks after buying the RDX, I almost crashed into 2 retaining walls waiting for the warning beep .

 

[eroscott]

Re: Chevrolet and Tesla cars

Absolutely love the adaptive cruise control (aka. traffic aware cruise control) on my new vehicle. I have a loaner and it doesn't have it. Such a pain to drive without it now that you've had it. Also lets you look at nav or radio and if a vehicle stops "quickly" in front of you ... think seconds ... then you get some extra advanced time to stop because the vehicle has already started slowing. Seconds and partials seconds help.

Also love lane keep assist and it has been great on long roadtrips. Subtle and works well. If you are on a two lane road and need to peak around a semi to see if it is safe to pass then you need your blinker on ... otherwise it will move you back. Makes perfect sense in what it is doing.

I want these features in cars around me as well. Lot of distracted drives and anything to help them (and me) is great.

 

[Jerry1]

I lease my cars (still w*rking). My last car was a fully loaded Impala. My current car is less loaded.

I really like the back up camera especially if it includes sensors (beeping) to help with distance from other objects. I would not like being without this feature.

The blind spot indicator was nice, but I really don't miss it on my current car. I still made mistakes in lane changes with the indicators so I don't think it was affective (at least for me).

I'm not yet sold on the adaptive cruse. I liked it, but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to own it. One thing that happened to me often was that I'd pay less attention to my speed and since the car would keep a gap, I'd end up behind a vehicle going slow and not realize it for awhile. It also doesn't work well in moderate to heavy traffic. Other drivers will not let you keep a gap in front of you. Therefore, you're vehicle is constantly getting cut in front of and your cruse control abruptly brakes frequently.

Lane departure was worthless and promptly shut off.

What I think about with all these features are the unintended consequences. Think about auto correct on your phone and tell me how much control do you really want to give up in a driving scenario.

 

[Sunset]

.....
What I think about with all these features are the unintended consequences. Think about auto correct on your phone and tell me how much control do you really want to give up in a driving scenario.

All.

I wish self driving cars were here already, so I could simply hop in the back at night to sleep and the van would drive itself to FL. I might need larger fuel tank.

I could be at the airport, phone home and tell DW to send the car to pick me up and it would eliminate the needed taxi ride. Nobody needs to be in it.

 

[Sunset]

I really love my backup camera since I drive a van, and little kids like to play behind it.

 

[eroscott]

I'm not yet sold on the adaptive cruse. I liked it, but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to own it. One thing that happened to me often was that I'd pay less attention to my speed and since the car would keep a gap, I'd end up behind a vehicle going slow and not realize it for awhile. It also doesn't work well in moderate to heavy traffic. Other drivers will not let you keep a gap in front of you. Therefore, you're vehicle is constantly getting cut in front of and your cruse control abruptly brakes frequently.

But the systems I'm aware of allow you to set the distance you want to maintain to the vehicle in front of you. For example in a Tesla you specify a following distances in units of 1 to 7. 1-7 is not car lengths as it is speed based. At highway speed (65-70) the 7 values means about a ~2.5 second rule. So when the car passes something you will reach the same something in ~2.5 seconds. At slower speeds (45) the 7 values is a different distances for that same ~2.5 seconds.

I wish self driving cars were here already, so I could simply hop in the back at night to sleep and the van would drive itself to FL. I might need larger fuel tank.

The Tesla auto-pilot is very very good on highways. I've been on a 1,000 mile trip and it has done the driving 90%-95% of those miles. So stays in lane, goes around curves, and keeps distance to the vehicle in front of you. It will also changes lanes for you if you just turn on your blinker to let it know what you want to do. You do need to keep your hands on the wheel (keep tension somewhat and remove hands "briefly") otherwise it will give a warning, then a more severe warning, then will turn on hazard blinkers and come to a stop. As with an airplane "auto-pilot" you are to keep in control.

 

[petershk]

I'm one of the soon to be beta testers of the model X. It's going to be an odd upgrade to my 2006 Honda civic. I haven't had a "nice car" in quite a while and I'm a sucker for all the tech on it.

I like Tesla cars but wouldn't buy Tesla stock so I guess this is how I can contribute?

Any way I cut it... it's an indefensible expense I plan to enjoy a lot . I won't pretend to rationalize it any other way.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[FireFool]

Of all the current/new optional safety features the one worthy of spending extra dollars to get is the forward collision avoidance systems - automatic braking if it detects you're about to hit something in front of you. I w*rk in the insurance industry, at least for the next few more days (giving ER notice this week), and based on internal data and NHTSA studies these do save lives.

Edit: side curtain airbags are also a worthy life saving option, moreso than the front airbags which would have no value if EVERYONE ALWAYS wore their seat belts (and still should even with the airbags).

 

[MichaelB]

My new Accord has all the safety features. We will soon have a road trip, so I'll see just how much benefit they are. In local day to day driving the advantage I see is with the camera in parking lots.

Learning how to use these new features is not easy and takes practice, especially when automatic braking is involved. That will make it more difficult for DW to spell me on a long drive. As she is an infrequent driver of my car, it won't be easy for her to learn.

My previous car lasted 10 years and 145k miles. I wonder how long this one lasts before all that electronic gear begins to fail. My guess is that repair and replacement will be very expensive.

 

[HF63]

I recently started to test drive some cars with CVT's transmissions and I do not like them at all. When you get to floor the gas pedal, they engine makes this humming noise like the trans is not helping out. The price of trans oil is also 28 dollars per quart almost like liquid gold.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I hate all this electronic babysitting and I'm really glad I only have 23,500 miles so far on my 2009 Venza. Maybe it will be my last car. I call it my "nanny car" because it has too much of this kind of stuff already. I want to drive my car myself. [/crabby_old_lady]

Perhaps, but what some folks should consider is that sure, it protects the occupants of the car but for ME, even more importantly, it helps protect the people AROUND them. Almost EVERY TIME I DRIVE, I have to take some avoidance measure because someone is distracted (mostly on the phone).

Car fatality rates are starting to trend HIGHER so even as cars get safer, it's becoming deadlier...which is a shift in a trend that had been going positive for 40 years or more. SO...I am glad that these features are out there and *help* to keep me safer. Personally, I hope I am around when self driving cars are the norm.

Traffic fatalities fall in 2014, but early estimates show 2015 trending higher | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

 

[travelover]

I recently started to test drive some cars with CVT's transmissions and I do not like them at all. When you get to floor the gas pedal, they engine makes this humming noise like the trans is not helping out. The price of trans oil is also 28 dollars per quart almost like liquid gold.

My Escape is 9 years old and has a CVT. The trans is sealed for life and I haven't spent a dime on trans fluid. If you are expecting a shift a CVT will disappoint. Some cars with CVTs have fake shift points, but I've gotten used to it being continuous and always in the right "gear". YMMV.

 

[mpeirce]

I'm another fan of all these features. Some of it's safety and some of it's just convenience.

It's startling when the car "informs me" that I'm closing in on the car in front of me too quickly, but I happy to have it do so rather than me rear ending someone.

There are a lot of more subtle features too. Like if it detects you are about to rear end someone, it cinches up the seat belts to hold you more firmly. If it thinks someone else is about to rear end you, it applies the brakes so that your car is less likely to slide into other cars in front of you.

If the car can save me from death or injury, I'm all for it.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

My "old, beat down" 2009 has the backup camera that I originally loathed. I would ignore it just out of spite. BUT THEN...I discovered that when I was parked between two trucks, I could actually SEE behind me and to the sides of the trucks and realized that it was indeed a tool that was very helpful. I am very glad they are mandated for 2018 models.

 

[Music Lover]

The blind spot indicator was nice, but I really don't miss it on my current car.

The blind spot can be virtually eliminated by a simple adjustment of the outside mirrors, yet few people seem to be aware of how to do so. I've been setting my mirrors like this for decades:

 

[Ian S]

For most cars, you can adjust the outside mirrors to eliminate the blind spots. It takes some getting used to but it does work.
How To: Adjust Your Mirrors to Avoid Blind Spots - Feature - Car and Driver

 

[Big_Hitter]

Guess I'll keep on buying older vehicles.

I can't stand TPMS or traction control as it is.


I do like ABS and air bags tho.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Guess I'll keep on buying older vehicles.

I can't stand TPMS or traction control as it is.


I do like ABS and air bags tho.

I am a pretty big fan of traction control. The Infiniti is rear wheel drive, so when I am pulling out and HAVE TO GO, without, I would be screeching tires. With the TC, the car accelerates much better than I could ever manage to.

The TPMS is OK, but on my DW's Highlander, it is a PAIN since the spare tire is also on the system. So, when the light triggers, I have to spend 45 minutes lowering the tire to air it up. Huge pain in my arse.

 

[Walt34]

(land departure warning etc)

If my car departs Land I sure hope it would give me a warning

I believe most of them do.