This is pretty neat.
Pity all the pleb drivers can’t afford Jags.
http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/new-cars-could-save-cyclists-lives-20150120-12u00v.html
I like how the article talks about warning drivers when bikes are about to overtake cars.
Agh. Software and servos and electronics and sensors and more and more little bits of shit to be made and fitted to an inefficient and expensive personal transport device.
I agree WCP.
This (while admirable in intent) strikes me as more tools & toys to absolve the driver of the vehicle of responsibility for doing what they’re supposed to do. Being aware, being responsible and being curteous. It’s not hard to check your mirrors as you drive. It’s not hard to do head checks before indicating and moving. It’s not hard to give way. It’s not hard to stop at a stop sign. It’s not hard to stop your car creeping over the white line and into a pedestrian crossing. It’s not hard to do the basics. All the computer assisted goodies in the world can not save ignorant, arrogant or negligent drivers from themselves.
I agree with all that, even though I’d like to try a Di2 groupset.
But I’ve noticed recently some Mercedes have little red triangles in the side mirrors that light up when you’re next to them, and they seem to help. But obviously rely on drivers looking at the mirrors still.
Yeah I find te blind spot warning lights in car mirrors useful for me to be honest - I see it go on and I know I’m in their blind spot. I either put a burst in to get past or give them space - always got an eye on the driver though to see if they look for me.
Don’t really see why we’d be negative about this. I don’t like cars and I certainly wish they weren’t the dominant form of transport in our culture but they are and they’re going to be for our lifetimes. If this makes it safer to ride with cars then I’m all for it. If it works it’ll become standard on all cars pretty quickly.
In any case, I’d rather see them investing in bike safety R&D than making their cars faster/sexier/more luxurious. Jag gets a kudos from me.
My problem snot really with the tech, it’s just with all the new stuff all the time. Making it standard just means digging up stuff to make the car, and someone’s gotta sell it and get a massive loan for it and work their arse off to pay for it and then do it all again in a couple of years, junking their old car which worked fine.
I’m with you 100% on that Pete. Just saying that, of all the reasons to develop new cars, cyclist safety is one of the more positive.
Agreed. I guess.
Once they tweak the system so it is an easy retrofit to all cars, then I’ll be interested.
I owned a Jaguar once. An Apollo Jaguar. I bought it in 1990 from Gran Prix Cycles in Glenhuntly Road. It was a nice little bike, 12 speed, cromo steel, typical of the era. But I would have thought that the market for software to detect them would be pretty small.