My old man has a Passat as well and every time I get in the car I turn the parking sensors off. Mostly because the beeping drives me insane but also because its really not that hard to park a car....
One thing I learned when I used to teach van driving skills to direct care staff is that some people just lack the ability to think spatially, and they have difficulty parallel parking because they can't wrap their minds around the concept of driving in reverse and turning the steering wheel to the left so that the front of the car moves to the right. It doesn't make them idiots, it just means they their brains are wired differently. It's sort of the same reason I drive a car with an automatic transmission. I can juggle while walking on stilts (and I can parallel park like a boss), but I just can't get the timing down on the clutch/accelerator combination. I nearly had a panic attack when the rental car place in Germany handed me the keys to a manual. It took me the better part of a week before I figured out that reverse and first gear were in the same position. But I digress.
Why do (especially Ford) car companies push this? Because it's gotten difficult for them to stand out. Nearly every car has every usefull gimmick anyway. VW built umbrella-driers into their cars just to be different. Now I don't mind, but it so much USELESS stuff beeing built in, while truely usefull stuff is left out. Look at the average-middle class car in europe that's...3-4 years old. They'l have an acoustic limiter* (who uses that?) but not a cruise control which would be handy. They'll have a light sensor and a rain sensor (just turn on you light/wipers you dodo's!) but NOT a parking sensor. (yes parkin sensors save you damage, so they're great) *actually, this gives them points in the NCAP score, don't ask me why, but that's why they're there. Same for passenger-seat-occupance-sensors This. My wife drives well, but she'll drive around for 10 minutes to avoid parallel parking. She insisted on parking sensors for our new cars, truth be told, you cannot see where they end, I like the parking sensors. Hint: They're not...but you make the same motion
I'm sorry, but the car you end up in after you pass your test has no real bearing on likelihood of an accident. Most end up in tiny-engined euroboxes and still have a large number of accidents. The UK needs a more vigorous driving standard to be maintained - the current test is both too difficult in some parts, yet too easy in others. We need a test which focusses on driving ability and awareness rather than by-the-numbers technical methods, you want a well-rounded driver who can judge things carefully, not a robot who will endlessly repeat the actions they're taught out on the roads.
Its been said I abandoned the car not park it .. Although I wouldnt trust "parking Assist" in the same way I don't trust Sat Nav to get me to where I want to go, I use it as a reference check method if I havent been somewhere before. Technology is here to help
Having done my driving test last year I don't think making it harder would help, it's more the bad habits people get into after taking it. The pass rate is already well under 50% as far as I can remember though making people do some night time driving in lessons (a bit like pass plus type stuff but compulsory, could include motorway driving in that as well) would probably be a good idea. Also parallel parking is part of the test anyway, was it not in the test before as people otherwise should all be able to do it?
Yeah, for some reason it makes perfect sense to put first gear and reverse in the same location, except you have to push down on the shift knob to engage reverse. For several days I was mistakenly starting the car and taking off in second gear.
One of the problems with the test is, everything depends on the day. Of course they cant make every test the same but if you are stuck in traffic for the majority of it as long as you do more than a set ammount of actual driving and do 1 manouver at the end they can't fail you afaik. Also with my test I was quite lucky, had quietish roads and was made to do my fav. manouver Additions that would be nice is after you've passed your test before you can drive on motorways etc you have to do additional lessons for motorway driving and night driving. I did night time driving with my instructor (had to do lessons after college so 7-8pm in winter)
This. It doesn't get me mad until someone hits my car whilst trying to park, or until someone parks so close to it that they can't get out of their vehicle without the edge of their door hitting mine. When I get a weekend car, it's going to have immaculate paintwork. And I mean immaculate. I will refuse to park it within door distance of another vehicle.
Well the Ford Assist system only controls the steering not the brakes/accelerator, you still have to do that yourself! So this must of been the fault of the driver.
Yeah, and it happened to me the other day (which is why I brought this up). First "door dinge" since I bought the car early last year. Thankfully it was only a shallow mark, not a sharp crease, and it didn't score or chip the paint, so I removed the inner door panel and gently pushed it out again. You'd barely know it was there now, unless you see it at an angle in the light.
Oh yeah? Tell that to Hulk Hogans son & the guy who's son crashed his Gumpert Apollo; lack of skill is more evident in a more powerful car. It takes a lot of skill to control a powerful car, just like it does to control a powerful bike- you see the issue/injustice there?
Quite obviously though cruise control cost alot more to install in a car. Lighta rain sensors are simple and are just a few lines of code and a a couple of sensors. Cruise control means playing with the engine ecu, which is alot more complicated.
Parking assist may be cool and all but I'm quite happy with the standard sensors and a rear parking camera if available. Hell, I think the newest BMWs these days have additional cameras all around the car now to help you get out of blind junctions easier, so I guess they'll be fun to parallel park with. Saves you from tilting the mirrors down to see how close you are to the kerb (although with that being said, I think Mercs do this automatically when you go into reverse gear). Looking ahead... let's get the cars fitted with the "ball" systems that were used in the movie I, Robot Need to parallel park? Just line up next to the space and then slide in
When I took the test (uk) about 4 years ago, you had to do 3 of a number of manoeuvres, not sure I remember them all but they included; parallel park, reverse round a corner, reverse into a parking space, turn in the road (not a 3 point turn, you do it in an appropriate number of moves for the width of the road), emergency stop. I believe it is still the same now. Years ago the test was somewhat simpler and many many years ago there was not even a test. For example my parents can drive mini buses, or tow large trailers without any training or tests. For me to tow a trailer of total weight over 0.5 tons I would have to do a test even though none of us have any experience. My grandfather who is in his late 80's can technically drive pretty much any road vehicle without taking a test for his licence. Although, he did have training for driving a fire engine. Someone pretty much ruined my passenger door I can't see how they wouldn't have noticed and probably an off. Caused a split in the metal and the lock no longer works from the outside. Though there were already plenty of dents from previous owners it was still very annoying as everything on the car worked till then.
I use my sensors 4/10 times, its just nice to have when i need to get close for any reason.. some people just cant drive
