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This is a tale of success and fail of cars with and without safety features.
My daughter has a new Hyundai i20 (which for the money is a good deal) and was approaching a junction controlled by traffic lights, The lights in her direction were green and a clear view ahead. For whatever, reason a car moved off against a red light, realising the error, stopped blocking her path. Faster than she could react, the emergency breaking kicked in and brought her car to a halt although quite abruptly avoiding a collision. Apart from shock and embarrassment, no damage done.
Contrast this to the day before (below) when I was rear ended by two other modern cars but without the same safety features. Had they been equipped with these features could the collision been avoided?
Considering the number of lives of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians that could be saved let alone the reduction in repair and Police costs, they should be made mandatory on all cars. The car I was in even had an SOS button to not only call the emergency services but also pin points the vehicles location.
This what does concern me over some of Motability vehicle choices where so many vehicles are at the bottom of the range with limited safety features. At the end of the lease in 3 or now probably 5 years, the resale value on the better equipped cars will be higher and potential for less insurance cost and claims. Plus in the meantime there is more assurance and comfort for persons on the scheme
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Interesting topic, Steve. I believe insurers are increasingly mandating many of these safety features and they will appear on all models not just those higher in the range.
I thought it was mandatory for cars to have an SOS button. I believe EB will be mandatory soon,as of now I think it only available in higher up models with some manufacturers.
Even so depending on the speed a vehicle is travelling EB limits the impact to prevent serious injury.
Hope your OK Steve 🙂
always fearful of sos button..lol visions of emergency services swinging into action. apparently if you press it again it cancels it. yes its been mandatory for several years. eba isnt afaik, but most new cars have it in some form
Current Car: Hyundai Kona Premium EV...2 way 40kg hoist
Last Car: Toyota C-HR Excel Hybrid...4 way 80kg hoistMy front assist kicked in today, coming out of a disabled parking spot still in 2nd gear, junction on my left with a lady in a new Qashqait sitting waiting to pull out.
Got about 3m from her and she shot out in front of me then stopped dead as there was someone on the ped crossing in front of her! so I would have smashed into her drivers door had I not went to brake and car had also slammed on the brakes! Totally oblivious as to what she’d done, person on the crossing gave her a piece of his mind and told her she’d nearly hit me as well, didn’t even look back or say sorry.
Please excuse spelling/typos. Apart from being a clot it turns out I had one on my cerebellum that's now causing various problems!
Immediately turn them off in any car I drive after an experience in a VW Sharan a few years back.
When your doing 70 and the brakes slam on for no reason whatsoever you become wary of the technology.
Front assist and emergency call are being legalised as mandatory, most new cars today have these, my 22My Skoda Superb has both plus blind spot indicators
My Ateca is a bit too active if passing parked cars or cars well in front slowing to turn off or slowing for a junction or roundabout.
I keep it on min distance setting but still get the odd “What The Fluff did you brake for?” moments with it.
Please excuse spelling/typos. Apart from being a clot it turns out I had one on my cerebellum that's now causing various problems!
Blimey. That’s a nasty smash. Hope you are OK. Good to hear that your daughters i20 worked as it should. I’ve recently bought an i20 Ultimate for one of my daughters and whilst she wanted it for the BOSE sound system and heated steering wheel, it was all the safety kit that I was keen on ? Thankfully she’s a very confident driver, as doing well over 100 mph on A roads (legally with blue lights) helps focus the mind somewhat, but it’s the other idiots on the road that worry me, especially when driving late at night.
Unfortunately, the emergency braking system on our previous Volkswagen Tiguan was very poor and on several occasions applied an emergency brake in error. Rather than prevent an accident it very nearly caused a few!
BTW, even though her new car is worth 3 times what her old one was worth when we sold it, her insurance premium went down slightly due to all the safety features.
AFAIK the SOS system is mandatory in Europe but the UK Government exercised their option to make it optional.
Most of the Emergency breaking systems have settings to change its sensitivity from low to high. The only concern is that if you turn it off and you are involved in an collision e.g. a child runs out in front of you, it could be a very difficult world afterwards.
@Glos guy, thanks. The effects are really kicking now. Torn rotator cuff in the left shoulder, ulnar nerve in the left as well, a few aches and pains but it is the whiplash and whiplash concussion that is killing me. When you have pre-existing brain damage you become more sensitive to more injury.
@Steve I was under the mpression the mandated deployment of eCall for new types of cars and light trucks will apply to the UK/EU from 31 March 2018. Irrespective of any mandate all vehicles old in the the UK from the said would have ecall anyway. Even Funky cat has it!
I hope your feeling better soon 🙂
That is a bad run your family is having Steve, hope everything gets sorted soon.
No active emergency braking system can mitigate for a tailgating driver, or the [insert expletive here] that cut back in right front of you and reduce your view and stopping distance.
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