All road vehicles should have autonomous emergency braking

nvingo

ABS or ALB as an early version was marketed, is automated cadence braking when the wheel starts to lose grip; it is designed to allow the steering to work, four locked-up wheels and the vehicle will simply continue in a straight line whichever way it is pointing.
But ABS may actually have a longer braking distance than a pre-ABS vehicle with the anchors slammed on, it's the ability for ABS to retain some directional control to attempt to avoid a collision.

Even professional drivers get it wrong; maybe (a refined/sorted version of) collision-avoidance should be fitted to all buses/coaches/LGVs - since such operational vehicles are subject to frequent rolling replacement and they spend most of their lives on the road it would be a worthwhile small additional cost.

woody10381

Since the introduction of the Mod 1 & 2 test structure, this is probably no longer the case - there is a marked focus on low speed manoeuvring which all has to be demonstrated to an examiner before you get let out on your 'proper' practical test.

Doug the D

I agree, but how many riders out on the roads today have gone through the much more rigorous training and examinations? I only did my (Mod 1 & 2) tests about 3 years ago, but I know that my slow speed manouvres are far from polished

I think the overall point I was trying to make (my points do tend to get lost in all my waffle!) is that no matter what we're talking about, whether it be braking from high speed, observation techniques, good spacing, or simply trying not to wobble around on a bike when doing a U-turn, it all relies on practice, practice, practice.

In some sort of highway eutopia, all drivers would be alert all the time and carry out driving perfectly - but we're human beings. The biggest point of failure in any road vehicle is always the part between our ears. It is believed that around 99% of accidents are results of human error, with the remaining 1% being due to mechanical or medical failure.

We can replace the human in simple tasks very easily in the modern world, but driving a car is an extremely complicated thing to do (even if done poorly). Computers will take a long time to completely take over driving imo. No matter what, I think it's going to be a fascinating ride. Pun intended.

mjn

In modern cars, if you really slam the brakes on, the hazards will also come on. This has only happened once to me and it wasn’t when i stop for a child running into the road

Trollslayer

That is the Emergency Brake Assist, it cut in once on my car (correctly).

woody10381

Hard to quantify I guess, I couldn't have a stab at estimating the proportion of riders with licences under the new versus old regimes. Even under Mod 1 & Mod 2, tuition standards may well vary somewhat. Fortunately, the training school I used were very hot on low speed manoeuvring and had us practicing a variety of exercises for hours on end - so by the time I got my licence and my own bike, I was already competent and confident.

If you feel that you could perhaps polish your LSM then it may be worth contacting your local IAM group? Many will run half-day training events (for members and non-members) specifically to brush up on aspects such as this, perhaps you could see if there is something nearby for you to tag on to? Well worth it IMHO.  

Totally agree with you on the need to practice and practice again. Some form of mandatory periodic re-assessment would be useful in this respect - but I doubt that will ever happen, which is the shame as it is the norm (and a legal requirement) for other forms of transport.

Not strictly true; human error is a factor in the majority of accidents but is very rarely the sole cause - it is simply one of the links in the error chain that lead to an accident. Sorry for being a pedant.

And sorry for diverting the thread.

nvingo

Isn't 'human error' ultimately the cause of mechanical failure somewhere up the testing/servicing/manufacture/design chain ?

Trollslayer

Not necessarily.
There will always be some chance of failure.

imightbewrong

Citation needed

Trollslayer

Agreed.
And 78.3% of statistics are made up.