Is lane departure tech going too far?
We're all for making cars safer and understand that many accidents are caused by drivers inadvertent lane departures (maybe because there are too many distractions inside the car?). New systems on some higher-end cars use cameras to read the painted lane-lines and will give an audio warning if your vehicle starts swerving into another lane. Nissan is developing a car that will automatically put you back into your lane if it finds you meandering. Using a camera and more software than we care to think about, the system controls the braking for front and rear wheels to "nudge" the car back into your lane. Of course, the feature disengages when the blinker is turned on. Having a car control the direction you're traveling using brake-pulses teeters on the brink of frightening. Nissan isn't the only one creating this kind of feature that takes the driving away from the driver.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tpp 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
That'll work real well with all the people who don't know cars come with blinkers.
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zfraile 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
tpp,
If a dog can learn through repetition, so can people (I hope!). I read that article and I think the only real benefit will be to force people to use the optional turn signals. That will cut down on accidents more than the intended function.
Of course, I'm sure overall accidents will go up as people also realize that they don't even need to hold the wheel with their knee when they've got a cheeseburger in one hand and the cell phone in the other.
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xkred27 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
What about emergency lane changes? There must be an override for abrupt maneuvers and the like. Right?
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B 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
Turn on the lane wandering protection, set the cruise control, and it's naptime. Just set an alarm to wake you up when you get near your exit.
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xkred27 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
Good point B. Especially with the new adaptive cruise control available that just sets your car a certain distance behind the car in front of you. Thanks all you wonderful car companies for completely eliminating my need to think about driving!
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punkigor 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
couple that with adaptive cruise control (already available on Toyotas and the like) and GPS and hopefully the car could get you to where you need to go without human intervention. sure, if you want to be 20th centry and drive it yourself, you could, but think of all the soccer moms on their cell phones or pompous business men checking their Blackberrys. hopefully these systems will make the roads safer since the computer will be paying more attention than drivers like them.
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chris 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
That's all fine and dandy until a couple of young punks realize a can of yellow paint can provide an evening's worth of entertainment watching Nissans swerve themselves into the bushes.
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Alex Lau 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
I dont know if any of this is actually going to go into production. I know that Toyota at one point devloped a Alchol sensor to prevent the starting of the car. They also devloped a sensors that will brake if it detects an object approching at a high speed (ie rear ending into someone). Also Toyota had a pluse sensor in the steering wheel to tell if a person was getting sleepy (a little coffee cup would light up on the dash and beep). All of this was done around 97 and none of it has really made it into production.
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xkred27 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
Holy crap that's funny chris. Takes one to know one?
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ambivalence 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
I think the sad truth is, *eventually*, all cars will drive themselves (see I-Robot)... But before we get there, we'll all continue to wonder if each new piece of technology is doing too much for our own good...
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RC 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
Wouldn't an annoying buzzer be a far better solution? It removes the possibility of the car correcting itself during an emergency, it makes the ingenious "yellow paint can" prank idea annoying instead of dangerous, and yet it would still help keep drivers in their lane.
Anything that would increase the use of blinkers would get my approval.
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motorfocus 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
Ideas such as this are interesting in theory. However, until roads require no path-altering construction and repair (including wildly applied lane borders and routes) such systems will likely be grossly impractical and dangerously insufficient.
If I want to leave the driving to someone else, I'll take Greyhound. Or 'drive' an Avalon.
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Zeke 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
the movie AI had an interesting compromise. Anyone know what I am talking about?
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AznFX 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
Zeke, sory no, but i'd like to...
it doesnt take punks w/ paint cans b/c at many of the biggest los angeles intersections they drew dotted lines all over the middle, wait until this thing sees that, but i guess it will prob just stop there
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Glenn 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
The lane departure warning is already in the Infiniti M, and FX along with the adaptive cruise control, preview braking and emergency brake assist in most all Infiniti's.
I really doubt the nudge feature will ever be implemented without a major uprgrade in tech or if it is will be an opt-in feature or only on with the cruise. Also, I'd imagine they'll need electric steering first or this will be a very expensive option. I'm thinking a system to just keep me from actually hitting something would be cooler and less intrusive.
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Jeff Gilleran 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
Police Officer: "Sir, Did you realize that you were weaving all over the road?"
Owner of car: "My car did it sir, Honest!".
Imagine the new insurance claims for this kinda thing.. blame it on the auto manufacturer along with suing Mcdonalds for holding a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, and also suing the Cell phone manufacturer in the other hand. (as mentioned earlier). Because they distracted you from letting the car drive within the Yellow paint stripes.
Sometimes certain technology is just another excuse for more people to blame everyone and everything else for the stupid things they already do naturally.
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Nathan 10:31PM (12/18/2005)
Most of you sound quite anti-technology. First of all, if you're afraid to use automatic lane keep and intelligent cruise control, you can just shut them off. But if in the near future you want to be able to read or relax or watch tv while your car safely moves you from highway entrance to exit, why not have a feature like this that you can flick on? Boats and airplanes already do this. I think the automatic transmission is an interesting case study. Many people preffer the control of a stick while others preffer the convenience of an auto (especially in the city), well todays cars generally use a clutchless shift that can be used as an auto or stick depending on what the driver opts for. Similar system should be implimented for a super cruise control. The option of "off, warn or auto".
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