Re:BMW Connected Apps Protocol
by rhombocombus on Monday January 20, 2020 @01:20PM
(#22100874)
Folks tolerate many of the features you describe (lane-keep assist, emergency auto braking (edit - spelling)) because they make one of the most dangerous activities we participate in as a society objectively safer. Engine auto stop helps reduce emissions.
I get that you are putting a "pure" driving experience on a pedestal and from an aesthetic standpoint I tend to agree, but it sounds like you haven't had to mop up after a catastrophic collision. Tens of thousands of people die every year (edit- in highway collisions) and you are complaining about technologies designed with the express intent to mitigate that, so how do I look at your gripe as anything but selfish nostalgia?
Why do we need a feature to steer for the driver or press their brakes? What is the new acceptable % of driver involvement in the activity? Is it now 95%? I don't understand why everyone seems to be OK with this grey area of man/machine responsibility. I've heard far more stories of lane keep assist doing something unexpected and causing panic than I have of it saving someone's ass.
My current car is almost entirely mechanical, with the exception of electronic throttle body. This may sound like a petty gripe considering the pure garbage that is being sold today, but I can feel the difference between this and a throttle body with a physical cable attached to it. It annoys the hell out of me that I can sense a 1mm deadzone before the computer detects that I have pressed my accelerator pedal. I cannot comprehend how people are tolerating things like brake/steer-by-wire, lane-keep assist on by default, engine auto stop, emergency auto breaking, etc.
I understand the most profitable target market for these cars is "people who didn't want to drive in the first place", but can we at least spend a little time considering those still in the "I like to drive and don't want it to be a miserable experience" demographic?