May 21, 2009 -
I Don't Wanna Buy This Either
City Safety from Volvo, it sounds like a wonderful implementation of technology.
If you approach a car in front of you going 2 mph to 9 mph, the car will put on the brakes and stop before hitting the vehicle. City Safety is only available in the XC60 models as of right now.
Just add this to the list of things that take responsibility away from the driver for driving their own car that I really don't think are all that great. Let's see...
Daytime running lights: The first car with DRL's was more noticeable in traffic, at least until more and more cars got DRL's and then they no longer stood out, effectively negating the "safety" benefit. As an added bonus, we now have many people driving around in the dark without their headlights on because they think the DRL's suffice.
ABS brakes: Yes, I know the data. Shorter stopping distances and all that. But the unintended consequence here is the driver who thinks he'll always be able to stop in time just because he has ABS. City Safety is really gonna make that guy pay attention, just like having a 4WD vehicle makes some wonder what happened while they're sitting in the ditch waiting for the tow truck during that first snow of the season.
Self-parking cars: Parallel parking is a fast disappearing skill.
Bottom line: You have know how to drive your car. Technology doesn't alleviate you of that responsibility. Color me a manual transmission driving Luddite, but anything that takes tasks away from the driver and makes them think they don't have to think about those driving situations or driving conditions anymore is never going to be on my list of great ideas.
