NOOOOO - Government Considers Brake Override System

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

alfadriver wrote: I remember people saying the same thing in the late 70's. Yet now cars are at least 5 seconds faster to 60, and handle a WHOLE lot better. The death of convertibles was on the horizon, 10 years prior to the first of many Miatas. Lets not get out of hand here.

It goes back longer than that. I bet the average GRM forum member would be one of those people in 1964 who were bemoaning the new 911 as a bloated, large, over luxurious grand tourer replacing the last real pure sports car from Porsche the 356.

a lot of the 356 guys still think that. I like them both however.

Most cars with drive by wire already have this, but some, like Audi/VWs, only kick in if you hold the brake and the gas down for more than 3 seconds so heel and toe and very brief brake torques in an automatic could still be done. Unfortunately, I'm betting the government requirement will be that power has to be cut immediately when the brake and gas pedal are pressed at the same time.

An unintended beneficiary of this will be the idiots who try to record an epic brake torque burnout in their Vettes or Camaros and instead blow up the clutch, amusing millions on Youtube. Their cars will shut down long before they embarass themselves.

Bob

at least it would eliminate the grammas driving down the road with the left foot on the brakes and brake lights on, lol.

Gov't loves to get involved in industry to offset the stupidity of a small percentage of drivers or narrow cases of manufacturer flaws/negligence. That's why I have a glowing TPMS light on my dash all summer (since my sensors are on my stock/winter wheels).

A mexican maxima?

I bet the aftermarket chip mfg's are rejoicing.

The contact to write to to oppose this, or any anti-enthusiast measure is:

Mr. Joseph Biden

Vice President, United States of America

One Observatory Circle

Washington DC 20007.

He is a Corvette and past Trans Am owner.

mr2peak wrote: A mexican maxima?

Close. A slightly uglified B13 Sentra. But still, a new B13 > any other new econobox.

^lol.

A less lazy me would look up crash test videos.

But im too lazy, so ill post this only semi-relevant video Click!!

We need real drivers training. I mean real strict schooling before you can drive. But I'm sure some idiot would scream about the government getting too far into there lives and telling them whether they can or can't drive.

Joey

The 'my car is an appliance, much like my fridge' crowed probably won't like the idea of more training.

I'd be in favour of it but then again it probably takes an active interest in driving to realise how much you still have to learn. If you're only trying to get from A to B (not bumping into objects on the way being optional), you're unlikely to realise how much you'd benefit from training.

I was thinking. My car already has something that prevents the car from getting away if the throttle sticks. Its just to the left of the brake pedal. By government logic they should just outlaw two pedal cars. Could you imagine the calamity that would cause? All these people trying to learn how to drive a stick who never have before. Plus it would be great for the economy. Used car dealers would be popular because the new cars would be only manuals and the "classic" automatics would be in demand. Transmission shops would see a bounce in business as people burn out clutches learning how to drive again (or for the first time since most have a license but haven't learned how to drive.)

I don't like government getting in to anything but this is really where the government should step in. The "Smart car" has always scared me this just cements what I already knew. They should mandate a recall of all vehicles and just give the owners there $$$$ back (all of it) The long term savings of medical and insurance costs that these things are going to ultimately cost all of us would probably out weigh the by back of all these cars. I always thought the smart car was a knee-jerk reaction that is ultimately a very bad idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he6TL15pJtw&NR=1

tuna55 wrote: This is just more of the same nanny state mentality that's ruining the country. Oh well, one more reason to drive an old car - as long as they "let" me.

Amen, sister. Whether it's coming from the gov't or the manufacturer, the "Obviously you're too stupid not to hurt yourself, (handle your own finances, not buy E36 M3 that you can't afford, etc., etc., etc.,) so we're going to regulate this so you don't hurt yourself" mentality drives me berkeleying insane.

How long do you think it will be before there's federal smog legislation on vehicles, and you'll have to pay an annual fine for driving an 85 CRX...OR, "We, your wonderful federal gov't who takes care of you from the cradle to the grave, will GIVE you $(x) of 'our' hard-earned money to trade it in on a brand new prius!"

Sometimes I think I'd be better off living in a third world country.

alex wrote: I haven't done a lot of in-depth research, but I like what I'm seeing from these crazies. Local Motors

The people at Local motors aren't crazies, they're revolutionaries. The cars the major manufacturers have been creating for the last 20 years aren't cars they're appliances. They design cars with compromises and when something is designed and build with compromises no one wins. The reason tuning and personalizing your car is so popular these days is really simple. People want a car to feel alive, they want to feel like the car is part of them. They don't just want means to get form point A to point B.

The idea that cars should be for the people, designed by the people and build by the people is brilliant. The reason cars suck isn't the cars fault, or the manufacturing or even the engineering it's the fault of the designers. Local Motors don't build a bigger better mouse trap, what they have is a better process to build a mouse trap. A process that allows the people to have a say in the cars they'll get, to be adventurous with design and more importantly they have a process that creates great cars that people will love.

I'd buy a Rally Fighter over a Ford SVT Raptor in a heath beat, wouldn't you?

Is there a reason that these "unintentional accelleration" cars can not be shifted into neutral? or are the drivers just to dense to control their vehicle whilst chatting on the telephone,drinking coffee, etc?

pilotbraden wrote: Is there a reason that these "unintentional accelleration" cars can not be shifted into neutral? or are the drivers just to dense to control their vehicle whilst chatting on the telephone,drinking coffee, etc?

Hun? I was eating a sandwich while texting this message while doing 80mph on the interstate, could you repeat what you just said?

(kidding, I'm currently stationary at a computer terminal 200 ft from the closest roadway)

all kidding aside, with the copious amount of electronic integration between the drive by wire systems, automatic electronic transmissions and steering, it's possible shifting into neutral won't work if the software bug was big enough, but one would hope they would test the integrated control systems on these things as rigorously as you have to test an electronic engine control for say an aircraft, oh wait, they don't...

I did testing on engines going through FAA certification as well as work on those in the field, found tons of software glitches on both, and the FAA cert process is one of the toughest to pass. The in-service engines luckily had the benefit of having a set of very rare and unique circumstances that resulted in engines almost burning themselves out as it just so happened that no one bothered to test/design software logic for this set of circumstances, sound familiar?

poopshovel wrote: Sometimes I think I'd be better off living in a third world country.

Most aren't significantly better in the "nanny state" department, and the politics are just as stupid and corrupt. Many do have universal health care that may be a better option if you're not swimming in money though. If you are swimming in money, it's paradise. Grease the right palms and you live like a king.