Unsafe At Any Speed
Nissan Develops Gas Pedal Safety Feature (via Yahoo!)
One more reason why it’s fucking great not to depend on cars anymore. I don’t know how much driving these egghead scientists really do, but from my experience I can add some relevant observations:
* As a registered vehicle operator, I can tell you that not all front-end accidents are best avoided with a straight-line braking action. It seems the opposite, though, is the assumption that this computer is based upon. This is not a situation where anyone can tolerate such potential gross inaccuracy.
* I’ve owned cars that had sophisticated computerized components. And lived to regret it. Give me a ‘97 Honda Civic anytime; if a wire or connector corrodes, it will not likely send my car into convulsions on the road like some of my prior vehicles have experienced. And none of those vehicles had computers hooked up to the ACCELERATOR OR BRAKES. (!!)
* If you’re driving in New York or New Jersey with such a system, your vehicle may very well be, for all practical purposes, non-operational. Ever had to ride a bumper at 45 mph on the FDR? ‘Nuff said.
Also: if you’re prone to accidents based on inattention, you shouldn’t be driving at all. Want to zone out during your commute? Read the paper? Drink coffee? Talk on the phone? Ride the bus, bitch.