And all those commercials for these features show people Clearly driving like total assholes.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Picture doug getting in Bo & Luke Duke style ...

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Why weigh on a sunny day?

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

That isn't true. I can promise you every person on this board has driven while tired at some point. I can promise you every person on here has at some point been driving on the line even for a quick second. It's not like this is designed to just let you turn your car on and then take a nap. It's no different than any other safety feature. I've never been in a car with air bags that actually deployed. It doesn't mean that if I ever need it that I should have just driven better.

Also, these are almost always included in a larger safety package. They also do blind spot monitoring, front and rear collision avoidance, and some even have adaptive cruise control which is MUCH safer. Our new car has a package like this and while I don't think it has avoided an accident I otherwise would have it did come in handy leaving a parking lot with a guy going fast as I was backing out and another time it went off as someone in front of me slammed on the brakes in front of me trying to get onto an on ramp from a normal street.

Everyone thinks they are a good driver who never makes mistakes and doesn't need features like this. At some point those same people are driving home from some place late at night and they realize that it really isn't about how good or bad of a driver you are and instead it is just human nature that if you drive 500,000 miles in your life you may end up one day crossing over the lane line a few times and a car that says "Hey stupid, don't be stupid" is nice just like it is nice that my car if I hit someone will have a big pillow show up to protect me from bashing my face into the steering wheel.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

So how do they work? In what instances are they activated? If you're on a particularly curvy road, will this thing just be beeping constantly?

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No.

If you get close to the line(like almost on it or on it) you see a light pop up. If you do it fast or don't correct it you sometimes get an audible tone or if it has it your seat has a small rumble.

We spent 6 hours in the car on Saturday and the light went on a few times and I got buzzed once.

If you drive a curvy road correctly you wouldn't even notice a difference.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

The problem is when people rely solely on these blind spot monitors and backup cameras to drive. If you get into a car without a backup camera and you can't back up properly, that is a big problem. Or she gets into a car with no blind spot monitor and proceeds to change lanes without looking.

Safety features are fine, but regardless of if a driver is tired or distracted or whatever, they have to be responsible enough to act and think for themselves.

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That is a good point and one of the problems. We have to pretty much jump from safety features to self driving because it can't do too much.

However, right now if you relied on these to do it completely you would crash very quickly. They really are just safety aids like anything else. It also helps in the areas that even good drivers struggle. There are some things you just can't see when you are in a parking lot or driving. If you check your blind spot you are not looking forward. In a parking lot you may have your vision blocked backing up or you may be looking left when someone comes from the right.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I love the back up camera in my SUV because there is a blind spot behind it. There is literally no way to see directly behind the truck without it. However, focusing solely on the camera when reversing is essentially tunnel-vision as you cannot see anything approaching from either side (but you get an awesome close up as you smash into something).

I see these features as tools to be utilized by drivers, but not as a replacement for "attentive" driving. Unfortunately, a majority will take all these features and use them as an excuse to become even less attentive as the car will alert them to any potential problem caused by inattention.

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They could put a lot more in but this is exactly what they are worried about. There is no reason every new car can't detect and stop every rear end collision. Adaptive cruise control is available for highway driving now on a lot of new cars that does this exact thing.

The problem is that you can't let drivers get trained to never hit the brake to slow down because they may not turn it on or it may fail in 1/10,000 circumstances. It's fine for cruise control because that is a special feature that has been in cars for decades.

The pretty much have to jump from adding in safety features like this that are passive to full self driving with a driver in the seat and a very good notification system that says "Pay attention now because I can't handle this".

The guy that died in the self driving car was an example of this. There was literally a sign on the screen that told him to pay attention and be ready to take over. He was reading a book instead.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

i thought he was watching a "harry potter" movie.

Oh yeah. You are right.

Reading is stupid. At least he didn't die doing that.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

i just hope it was "half-blood prince". the only movie in that series worth dying for.

This guys final review:
Harry Potter: 3.5 W_Z's out of 4 W_Z's.
Self Driving Car: 0 W_Z's out of 4 W_Z's.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

The backup camera is nice but I have found myself having to consciously ignore it because I've come too dependent on it. I have to remind myself to move around my lazy fat head.

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Yea, it'd be nice if everyone paid attention but they clearly dont. I see people drift into other lanes a lot.