edmonton sun

Quote :

OTTAWA -- Cars, pickup trucks and minivans manufactured in Canada are about to get a bit more expensive but a lot safer.The federal government gave notice on the weekend that it plans to introduce a new safety requirement for thousands of vehicles on Canadian roads.
Under its proposal, all light-duty vehicles under 4,536 kilos manufactured in this country starting in September 2011 will have to be equipped with an electronic stability control (ESC) system.
But while the government estimates the high-tech device could cost automakers up to $525 per vehicle, they say it will pay off in fewer people hurt or killed.

this sounds stupid... just about as stupid as ABS...

Not everyone in the world is focused on treshold braking and such.

They just want to press a button and 'drive'.

Would be a good addition. TBH the car manufacturers won't even notice the extra cost. They buy more and thus it costs them less per unit. Just as ABS used to be a fairly expensive option on some models, now an ABS equipped new car can be had for about £5500-£6000.

$500 may not sound like alot, but think about how many cars these companies make...... That's exactly why you find some "not top of the line" things under your hood.

if you can buy a 30.000$ car, you can buy a 30.500$ car..

been to a car yard lately? A lot of them are full to overflowing, being as a lot are being re possessed, or sold due to the owners being unable to make repayments. IIRC there was a thread on all the unsold New cars in the UK here too...pictures of them lining test tracks and wharves..


How about they sell what they've got first, before they worry about new tech.

Quote from Scrabby :

if you can buy a 30.000$ car, you can buy a 30.500$ car..

depends on the money you have.

Quote from Scrabby :

if you can buy a 30.000$ car, you can buy a 30.500$ car..

I'm not talking about the buyer, I'm talking about the manufacturer. $500 put into , lets say, 20,000 cars.... Thats 10 million bucks right there.

But after 20,000 cars it'll have become cheaper per unit because of the increase bulk.

Besides, it doesn't cost them $500, try $200.

Quote from BlakjeKaas :

depends on the money you have.

++

500 bucks can sometimes make the difference between getting that car loan or not, especially in these economically-screwed times.

Ehm, isn't ESC or equivalent pretty much standard on most cars already and by end of 2011 I'd imagine you'll have hard time finding car not equipped with such system.

And notice that it only affects cars manufactured in Canada after September 2011. Sounds like it's just going to make imports that much more popular around there.

interesting blurb on slashdot...

Quote :

Modern highway planning schemes designed to make roads safer combined with the comfort and safety technology found in the modern automobile may actually be putting us in danger, according to a compelling piece in Popular Mechanics. Citing studies and anecdotal evidence, the article points out that a driver on a narrow mountain road will probably drive as if their life depends on it; but the same driver on an eight-lane freeway with gradual curves and little traffic may be lulled into speeding while chatting on his cellphone. Quoting: 'Modern cars are quiet, powerful and capable of astonishing grip in curves, even on wet pavement. That's swell, of course, until you suddenly lose traction at 75 mph. The sense of confidence bred by all this capability makes us feel safe, which causes us to drive faster than we probably should. We don't want to make cars with poor response, but perhaps we could design cues — steering-wheel vibration devices, as in video games? — that make us feel less safe at speed and encourage more care. ... In college I drove an Austin-Healey 3000 that somehow felt faster at 45 mph than my Mazda RX-8 (or even my Toyota Highlander Hybrid) feels at 75 mph. That was a good thing.'

... and i believe it. why stop early when you can slam on the brakes and let abs do it's thing... until they realize their stopping distance increased.

Yep, back to the Tristan approved spike-on-steering-wheel method.

Quote from bunder9999 :

interesting blurb on slashdot...



... and i believe it. why stop early when you can slam on the brakes and let abs do it's thing... until they realize their stopping distance increased.

There is a scientific term for the condition (I don't remember it) which says the safer we feel, the more risks we will take, with cars coming with all the safety features they have now, we feel safer than ever in our cars, as a result will take those extra risks which we never would in an older car. Which is why the airbags in cars should be replaced by small charges of P4, it'll be a cheap mod as all the wiring and detonator is in place, you just need the P4 slapping in.

Everyone will drive carefully then.

You don't even need the expense and complication of explosives. As pb32000 (and presumably Tristan) said, all you need is a 6-inch metal spike coming out of the middle of the steering wheel. People'd drive carefully then.