When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Some old dude in a newer minivan (with a camera) backed into my parked car once...a week after I got it.
Frankly, there is no excuse for backing into a car or person if you have a camera. It is idiot-proof yet some people still manage to screw up. There should be no way you hit anything with a camera for guidance.
Well, is trusting the backup camera too much an excuse?
I got a Camry a few years back, and it was the first car I owned with a backup camera. I was at the dealership, had just finished doing paperwork and was ready to drive it home for the first time. I started reversing out of the space I was in, and there were a number of new Corollas parked in the spaces behind me. As I turned the wheel, I was like "Wow, this backup camera is so helpful! I totally have room". Then I hear "grrrrrrrch". I backed right into the front of a white Corolla and left a nice gray scuff on the hood and a small pencil-thin scratch on my own bumper on the passenger's side corner. My car only had 7 miles on the odometer, already damaged.
So I learned real quick not to trust the backup camera alone. But only after causing hundreds of dollars of damage. Dealership was nice enough to fix the Corolla and not charge me for it, however.
We were backing out of a parking lot the other day and a 70's driver is in the process of doing the same. He'd didn't scan left or right to check other cars to notice I was halfway out of the stall but simply looked at his rearview camera ignoring the back out queue of 2 other cars and pulls all the way out. Some of the tech is negating what should be good driving practice to insure the surroundings are safe. SMH
New technology makes people lazy and dumb. Old basics still should apply in our daily lives. Up here in Toronto, a guy entered a subway tunnel and his cr was stuck on the track. He said GPS led him into the tunnel.
this is pretty awesome I never knew- my 4runner had rear speakers at that location
Originally Posted by CleanSC
I hate the rear view cams. Installed for safety, yea right. They give you massive tunnel vision. I never use mine and turn my head every time.
As for cross traffic alert, NOTHING was better than the previous generation 4Runner's D-Pillar mirrors. Man, that there, was a good idea. And they got rid of them. I'll never understand why. Simple, effective, and always there. You can see clear down the street with them.
They are only really useful at telling you if something is right behind you. Do NOT use it to tell you how close. As you've found out, it's deceiving.
It depends. My Odyssey has the distance indicator both visual and with beeps. Its a far better indicator than trying to judge with my eyes. Unfortunately, its better than the one in my more expensive Lexus
I think the biggest problem is from states having pulled paid drivers Ed from high school. So many people are just ignorant of driving laws. Now we are at the point of ignorant parents teaching their kids how to drive.
I think the biggest problem is from states having pulled paid drivers Ed from high school. So many people are just ignorant of driving laws. Now we are at the point of ignorant parents teaching their kids how to drive.
it's not just ignorance of driving laws, it's ignorance of how a vehicle works, how to control your vehicle, what to do in various situations.
The DMV and drivers course focus on defensive driving, but none of them spend any time on the basic functions and operation of vehicle.
Most people today simply point their car in a given direction, hit the gas and hope they don't hit anything on the way there.
I think the biggest problem is from states having pulled paid drivers Ed from high school. So many people are just ignorant of driving laws. Now we are at the point of ignorant parents teaching their kids how to drive.
I sent both of my kids to basic driving school, defensive driving course, racing course. In their early 30's pretty decent drivers and they know what and how to do if
something happens on the road. Both knows how to drive with stick shift, daughter knows basics under the hood, can replace flat on her own. Son is real driver
owns summer/winter rides, two Bimmers.I grew up with vehicles since my dad used to run transportation business with a fleet of trucks. Wife also gone thru the driving courses when learning how to drive. I always keep an eye on their cars, make sure they are in excellent shape year round. When I am on the road so many drivers scare me. Don't know how they got their licenses or who taught them. Too slow, too fast, lack of knowledge on rules of road, etc. Getting worse every day. Driving is an earned right.
The new 2017 RX has Intelligent Clearance Sonar that uses both the
Park Assist (8 dime sized sensors) and the BSM (hidden sensors)
to activate the brakes. Torii is correct, nobody on CR would really
need this stuff...but our spatially impaired parking lot bumblers DO!
We were backing out of a parking lot the other day and a 70's driver is in the process of doing the same. He'd didn't scan left or right to check other cars to notice I was halfway out of the stall but simply looked at his rearview camera ignoring the back out queue of 2 other cars and pulls all the way out. Some of the tech is negating what should be good driving practice to insure the surroundings are safe. SMH
Don't blame technology--blame the user. If that guy didn't have a camera, he still would have looked half a$$ed, if he looked at all. I'm sure his screen say "Check surroundings for safety."
Originally Posted by Htony
New technology makes people lazy and dumb. Old basics still should apply in our daily lives. Up here in Toronto, a guy entered a subway tunnel and his cr was stuck on the track. He said GPS led him into the tunnel.
Newsflash--those people already ARE lazy and dumb. Technology only highlights it.
Exactly, not blaming the technology, the driver still needs to implement good practice to insure safe operation. The tech can be very beneficial and I do like these assists on cars due to the blind spots from huge A-B and C pillars. The tunnel vision of this driver relying on a backup camera negated what was happening on each side of him.
sorry to break it to ya, the more popular and advanced the semi-autonomous and thereby autonomous tech gets, the more people will
a) cause themselves to distance themselves from the responsibilities of being a driver
b) find work arounds to safeguards on these systems
c) marketing teams throwing out more ads and buzzwords indicating how carefree autonmous tech is
d) causing a lot of damage without taking responsibility
Its human nature, good luck trying to find a solution to that.
