Safe Speed Forums

Article from the times -

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/articl ... 43,00.html


The idea is about safety features lulling people into a false sense of security and slowing down reaction times. How much of a similarity is there to driving too slowly/forced to drive too slowly for the conditions??


"If a driver has little to do the capacity to respond to unexpected events is dramatically reduced,” said Mark Young, who led the research."

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I would say there's a very strong connection.
And, as we were always taught on the ranges, "don't rely on the safety catch- a mechanical device is no substitute for proper procedures and practices".
Which links back to the article regarding the "personalities" who tried driving cars without ABS, traction control etc, and couldn't- totally dependant on their gadgets.

That was my opinion too - and nice to see it proved.

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

What I want to know is whether the AAC putting them further behind other vehicles meant them thinking they had more time to react so there were slower for that reason? Risk compensation and all that. Also if the AAC made them drive further away from other vehicles than they would normally do was the outcome the same between the 2 had the same incident occurred at the same distance in front of them? eg take 1 second to react when 2 seconds behind but take half a second to react when 1.5 seconds behind.

the systems described in this article (well the online one anyway) arn't really safety devices, safety devices are those which aren't usually relied on (i.e. very few people have ever even felt the ABS on their car).

ACC & A(F)S are really driver assistance systems and as such are used more often if not continuously so you may adapt to rely on them. motorway driving is pretty monotonous at the best of times and these systems certainly won't help.

ACC is a production system available now, but only usually has limited braking ability, usually sounding a buzzer when it spots something it can't avoid. so doesnt fully remove the driving task from the driver (yet).

i think there is maybe one lane guidance system available or about to be but it shuts off if you have your hands off the wheel.

as with most of thee kinds of systems poor driver understanding & education plays a large part in their succesful use (or not).

"If a driver has little to do the capacity to respond to unexpected events is dramatically reduced,” said Mark Young, who led the research."

One of the things i was looking at when i posted was the similarity between "safety features" relieving the driver of work causing "underload" of the used driving skills leading to lethargy and the sheer boredom of driving on a road that warrants NSL and is signed at 40, and how true this statement in those circumstances is.

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on