The next evolution - BMW emergency stop assistant

[Darren]

http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20110104 ... conscious/

Article reads

Sometimes when I am walking down the stairs I wonder, what would happen if I fainted right now? Of course I spend a goodly percentage of my life wondering about weird stuff like that. I won’t tell you anymore about it. It’s probably not a good thing.

However, at least now I know what could happen if I had a medical emergency while I was driving my BMW. BMW’s Emergency Stop Assistant will have the ability to sense your emergency, safely take control of your vehicle, bring it to a standstill on the shoulder and even call the ambulance for you.

Utilizing cameras, radar, GPS and other modern marvels, your BMW will ascertain the conditions surrounding you, switch on the hazard lights, “look” for available exit options and maintain a lane of travel until it’s clear to slowly make a beeline for the shoulder, even over several lanes if necessary.

Normally, this total lack of control would unnerve me, but if I’m out cold, I guess its better than the alternative, for me and everyone else on the road. Then again, now every time I see a Bimmer I am going to wonder if anyone is actually driving the car. Will it never end?

Source: http://www.motortrend.com

[jont]

I hope the GPS works Europe wide to know which side of the road you're supposed to be driving on, otherwise might have some interesting consequences when UK cars are on the mainland (or vice versa). And quite what it does when hard shoulder running is in use (as it seems to be getting ever more prevalent)

[TripleS]

And to what extent is it really felt that 'progress' such as this will really make much of a contribution to improved safety? Within the whole range of motoring mishaps, I can't imagine this system being of any help in anything more than a miniscule number of incidents. No doubt there will be a great fanfare about this, but to me it is yet more overkill on the technology front.

On the subject of medical emergencies suffered by drivers, I once encountered a self-appointed road safety expert in the Whitby area, and one of the things he made a great fuss about was obeying speed limits, especially the NSL on single carriageway roads. His principle concern seemed to the possibility of a driver coming the other way having a heart attack and swerving onto the wrong side of the road. i suppose he was concerned that the closing speed shouldn't exceed 120 mph.

At any rate, his concern didn't seem to extend to his own respect for the 30 limit in the local village. I was driving through the village one day complying with the speed limit, and he was catching me up quite rapidly!

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[michael769]

I hope the GPS works Europe wide to know which side of the road you're supposed to be driving on, otherwise might have some interesting consequences when UK cars are on the mainland (or vice versa). And quite what it does when hard shoulder running is in use (as it seems to be getting ever more prevalent)

In my experience GPS is not accurate enough to be sure what side you are on let alone what road. When the GSO(A726) was opened the GPS mapping data was slightly out of line of the real road. The result was that GPSs got terribly confused and would have you swapping between the carriagways, going up and down the slip roads and even turning off onto non-existant roads.

I dread to think what BMWs device would try to do on such a road!

[Porker]

I wonder if BMW might consider making their "standard" car handle properly a higher priority than this sort of thing. Having briefly considered an F10 5 Series, it seems that they are fitted as standard with puncture-prone runflat tyres and need the adaptive damping option (£1,000 or so) in order to come close to being the "ultimate driving machine".

My suspicion is that BMW have started to engineer their cars to suit what they see as being their biggest market in years to come, i.e. China and the Far East. That probably makes economic sense, however I'm not close to being convinced that it's right for me.

P.

[IVORTHE DRIVER]

I have this vision of BMWs with unconcious drivers "parked" on the police only humps at the side of the motorways as this has been the nearsest exit the electronic wizardry could find

Then again I wonder if roundabouts will confuse it? now if it could take you home and park you in the driveway that would be clever!!

Seriously though what happens if the electric brain goes into meltdown? scary thought

Ivor

[fungus]

I have this vision of BMWs with unconcious drivers "parked" on the police only humps at the side of the motorways as this has been the nearsest exit the electronic wizardry could find

Then again I wonder if roundabouts will confuse it? now if it could take you home and park you in the driveway that would be clever!!

Seriously though what happens if the electric brain goes into meltdown? scary thought

Ivor

I think this is a sentiment echoed by several on this forum. I am strongly in agreement with Dave (Triple S) on this matter. I certainly do not want electronic gizmos taking over my control of the car.

As a driving instructor, my personal preference would be to be able to disable the ABS when teaching emergency stops so that pupils can experience the difference between a car with ABS, and one without, as my guess is that most teenagers first car will not have ABS.

[jont]

As a driving instructor, my personal preference would be to be able to disable the ABS when teaching emergency stops so that pupils can experience the difference between a car with ABS, and one without, as my guess is that most teenagers first car will not have ABS.

Most cars have a separate fuse for the ABS system that should allow you to do that.

[TripleS]

Is it the case that if you pass your test in an automatic car, you can then only drive automatic cars? I expect it is.

On that principle, are we going to find ourselves (eventually) heading for a situation whereby if you pass your test on a modern car with various aids, you will not be able to drive a 'normal' car from the 1960s or 1970s, or indeed somewhat later?

That would further complicate things in terms of licence grades, would it not?

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[Russ_H]

Is it the case that if you pass your test in an automatic car, you can then only drive automatic cars? I expect it is..

Yes.

On that principle, are we going to find ourselves (eventually) heading for a situation whereby if you pass your test on a modern car with various aids, you will not be able to drive a 'normal' car from the 1960s or 1970s, or indeed somewhat later?

That would further complicate things in terms of licence grades, would it not?

Best wishes all,
Dave.

When electronic parking brakes first appeared, they were deemed, by DSA, to be unsuitable
for driving tests, but the restriction has now been lifted, as the device has become more
common. The original thinking was that the electronic brake replaced driver skill for uphill
starts.

[TripleS]

....are we going to find ourselves (eventually) heading for a situation whereby if you pass your test on a modern car with various aids, you will not be able to drive a 'normal' car from the 1960s or 1970s, or indeed somewhat later?

That would further complicate things in terms of licence grades, would it not?

When electronic parking brakes first appeared, they were deemed, by DSA, to be unsuitable
for driving tests, but the restriction has now been lifted, as the device has become more
common. The original thinking was that the electronic brake replaced driver skill for uphill
starts.

Yes, I was vaguely aware of that, but it is but one simple example, and it doesn't fully overcome my concerns about the general principle.

I still have the feeling that the latest cars are acquiring an ever increasing range of sophisicated aids, to an extent that they significantly reduce the need for driver skills. Therefore drivers who learn in these modern vehicles (which will include most driving school cars) and pass their tests in them, are bound to have more difficulty should they need to drive older cars. I think this could become a significant problem in due course.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[IVORTHE DRIVER]

Already a problem with pupils who pass their test in a modern car then find their bugdet does not stretch to the same and end up with horror of horrors, no PAS!, no ELECTRIC WINDOWS! no TILT STEERING WHEEL etc etc.

The first car my daughter had was a Pug 106 with basically nothing....quite a struggle after the brand new Fiesta of her instructor.

Modern techno gadgets not always the way to go.....wonder how many youngster could drive a car without using the clutch if it were to fail? pretty easy if yiou have used a "crash" box.

Ivor

[Jemma]

The clutch could fail?

Being the daughter in question (of Ivorthedriver) I can admit that I did struggle without PAS as the first time out in the car I couldn't steer the car into a car park! was slightly worrying as there were brick walls on either side! Eventually though I got to love my little pug 106 and was very sad to see it go and I am probably one of the few under 25s who have no wish for gadgets, car related or other.
I am a member of IAM and went for a drive with another member last year who was showing me the many gadgets of his car, matching his speed to the car in front on the motorway for example - although I agree this is quite amazing it takes the fun out of driving. Although I have to agree that the emergency stop assistant mentioned in this thread will surely save lives I worry that these gadgets are going to create a lack of thought on the roads as many already drive on auto pilot.

As for the clutch failing - a lesson needed there dearest daddy next time I come home!

Lessons I'll have to remember when teaching my own students in the future - perhaps after they have passed so as not to scare them!

[TripleS]

I am a member of IAM and went for a drive with another member last year who was showing me the many gadgets of his car, matching his speed to the car in front on the motorway for example....

You mean his car had a device that monitored the distance to the car in front, and prevented him from tailgating etc? I didn't realise the toy department had progressed that far. Still, I don't suppose an IAM member should need an anti-tailgating device. Von is the chap who's more likely to break the two second rule.

BTW, I'm another 'under 25' with only a very limited interest in gadgets.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[jont]

I am a member of IAM and went for a drive with another member last year who was showing me the many gadgets of his car, matching his speed to the car in front on the motorway for example....

You mean his car had a device that monitored the distance to the car in front, and prevented him from tailgating etc? I didn't realise the toy department had progressed that far. Still, I don't suppose an IAM member should need an anti-tailgating device. Von is the chap who's more likely to break the two second rule.

Merc have had auto-distance cruise control for a few years in their top models. I think Jaguar may have something similar now? Basically it slows you down when it detects something in the lane ahead, then when clear accelerates back to your pre-set cruising speed. I think they're radar based.