EU safety regs require autonomous braking for 2014

All cars will need to have the Merc-style automatic braking that activates when a crash looks inevitable:

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/08/eu-autonomous-braking-law/

It should do more good than harm for all the inattentive drivers out there.

dumb ideas are dumb. Way to go Europe.

I hope they dont become the lowest common denominator that the rest of the worlds auto industry feels they have to pander to...I can only imagine what the cost of EVEN MORE NANNY BULLSH!T will end up adding to the bottom line of cars that are already overcomplicated to the point of disbelief.

One more step until the day when we will all be forced to have self driving cars. Think of the children and all that.

Wont it be great? Cars will start thinking for us, and we'll stop.

You mean we haven't already?

Yea! Now I get to spend a couple grand more for a new model!

Or that is what I would be saying if I had any intention of EVER buying a newer car than 1992 again

What ever happened to driver training? Shouldn't we be more concerned that the idiots behind the wheel can't be bothered to apply the brakes on their own?

Javelin wrote: What ever happened to driver training? Shouldn't we be more concerned that the idiots behind the wheel can't be bothered to apply the brakes on their own?

But Europe is so CIVILIZED! America is so BACKWARD comperd to them!

Isn't that what everybody in America says when they want the government to take over yet another thing that individuals should be doing for themselves?

That sounds awesome. I can just floor the car everywhere and when I roll thru a pack of nuns... blame the mfg!

How long before we can set autopilot so I can drink and drive?

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: How long before we can set autopilot so I can drink and drive?

In our country that lacks good public transportation, I actually would not mind this at all to be able to get myself and my car home after a night out.

I can only imagine the ENORMOUS pain in the ass this is going to cause for larger cities who's roads are packed with traffic and bumper to bumper driving is common. In Austin, for example, everyone cuts everyone off and drives like a bunch of idiots. So this autonamous braking will hit the brakes and make a safe driving zone around every car and all that crap, right? This will be FUN to watch. LOL I'll keep my manual (almost) everything P71 thanks.

Conquest351 wrote: I can only imagine the ENORMOUS pain in the ass this is going to cause for larger cities who's roads are packed with traffic and bumper to bumper driving is common. In Austin, for example, everyone cuts everyone off and drives like a bunch of idiots. So this autonamous braking will hit the brakes and make a safe driving zone around every car and all that crap, right? This will be FUN to watch. LOL I'll keep my manual (almost) everything P71 thanks.

I can understand a lot of the arguments for and against this. But this one isn’t valid. City driving in the average European big city makes the worse behaved drivers in American cities look as polite and a group of old ladies having a dainty afternoon tea. And yes I’ve been to Austin in rush hour and it’s far better than most cities in the North of the country, let alone Europe.

Javelin wrote: What ever happened to driver training?

The IIHS and presumably their EU counterpart consider it useless |:-(

At least it will theoretically have its bugs worked out there before they start mandating it here.. I wouldn't want to own the 1st gen of a car with that feature, fo' sho'!

But look at it this way:

When cars become 100% autonomous - thereby removing driver control - there will absolutely no need for liability, comprehensive, or medical coverage. If there's a crash, it would completely be the fault of the manufacturer.

Of course, that fact alone will jack the price of transportation 1000%.

GameboyRMH wrote:

Javelin wrote: What ever happened to driver training?

The IIHS and presumably their EU counterpart consider it useless |:-(

yes, driver training does not make for safe drivers... so just hand your keys over to the nearest 16 year old

Remember when all the dumb rules came from here and we wished we could get the cars from Europe.

i thought that those European countries were so proud of their driver training regimens and the hoops that people have to jump thru to get a license.. Europeans are always saying how much better they are at driving than us fat, lazy, self absorbed 'Mericans.. if that's the case, then why do they keep coming up with all these stupid regulations?

Was does this braking capability mean for manual transmissions?
Brake too much and there will need to be a downshift.
Does this mean automatic transmissions will be required?

novaderrik wrote: i thought that those European countries were so proud of their driver training regimens and the hoops that people have to jump thru to get a license.. Europeans are always saying how much better they are at driving than us fat, lazy, self absorbed 'Mericans.. if that's the case, then why do they keep coming up with all these stupid regulations?

It depends which countries you're looking at - in some countries, there is a lot more emphasis on driver training (think Germany or especially Finland) than in others. For example, a motorcycle or car test in the UK is easier than in Germany, and gets easier still in countries like Portugal.

On top of that, the "think of " bandwagons are the same all over the world and you get the same type of politician and supporting bureaucraft (ab)using them in Europe as everywhere else.

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

Conquest351 wrote: I can only imagine the ENORMOUS pain in the ass this is going to cause for larger cities who's roads are packed with traffic and bumper to bumper driving is common. In Austin, for example, everyone cuts everyone off and drives like a bunch of idiots. So this autonamous braking will hit the brakes and make a safe driving zone around every car and all that crap, right? This will be FUN to watch. LOL I'll keep my manual (almost) everything P71 thanks.

I can understand a lot of the arguments for and against this. But this one isn’t valid. City driving in the average European big city makes the worse behaved drivers in American cities look as polite and a group of old ladies having a dainty afternoon tea. And yes I’ve been to Austin in rush hour and it’s far better than most cities in the North of the country, let alone Europe.

I've never been to Europe, I guess I can see the safety side, electronic reaction time is sure to be faster than the human reaction time, but still. I've been able to squeeze out of some pretty tight situations just by the paint of my bumper and something like this would have prevented that and thus CAUSED an accident. People in Austin are probably the worst drivers I've ever seen. They just don't pay attention. Anyways, I don't like it. I don't want it. I'm tired of all these damn "safety" things required on cars to make them self driving. Just make a damn car self driving and be done with it.

I imagine that's going to hurt the 'ring times for certain high-end German sedans, unless there's a way to turn it off...

This is going to make it way easier for me to text and drive. I may even be able to finally install that hot plate in the passenger seat so I can have scrambled eggs during my hour drive to work. I for one am all for it!

Careful-all this criticism is gonna get somebody arrested.

After more looking around online, it is for commercial vehicles. For cars, it simply becomes a factor in safety test, as in no 5* ratings for car without it. That said I'm sure it will happen in a few years.