Didn't realize this was such an issue...


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,559102,00.html

 

Well in Montana where you only see a car once every other week it's not an issue.

Try driving round the London Orbital motorway and you'll understand why it could help !!!

 

Surprised to see Nissan staking claim to this. I have seen a special on Discovery channel or similar channel about this same philosophy, but it wasn't tied to Nissan.

 

i thought lexus and another company had already applied something similar to their cars.

 

Quite a few major manufacturers have been working on collision avoidance systems for many years notably Mercedes and Jaguar.
However by my understanding thses systems do not necessarily work in all 'planes'. (ie only front to back or side to side).
From what I read Nissan seems to think it can develop a system as complex as a flock of birds ( or shoal of fish as stated here) all wheeling and turning in complete symmetry.

 

The problem with this technology is it assumes everyone will travel in packs and no one will be running late and speeding.

As it said, the vehicles communicate GPS coordinates and relative positions or radar/laser and adjust throttle or braking to maintain whatever predefined distances, speeds, etc.

Like cruise control, but working off the vehicle ahead of you. See the flaw?

Screw that. I have a heavy foot. And, it also assumes everyone would drive a Nissan.

 

Technology that is important in general automotive safety will soon be adopted by all manufacturers so you won't have to drive a Nissan.

This technology would only apply sensibly in dense urban traffic where no one with a leaden foot would gain much ground by speeding.

(Ever noticed how the idiot weaving his way through rush hour traffic in a city like Houston gains all of a second or two over a period of 30 minutes or so. Not that they can ever be made to realise that fact !)

 

yep i believe i saw something similar to this on the Discovery channel a couple of years ago, the cars were traveling something like 1-2 feet apart and would never hit each other.

 

Yes, city traffic, usually the red light catches you no matter what. Agreed.

But, I still don't believe that people will want to allow a vehicle to control their vehicles movement. What if some people want it on while others want it off and so on?

I can see this causing more trouble then help.

 

I understand what you are saying.

It's like cruise control. All very well on a long distance road trip on an American Interstate but try using it here in the UK for example and it will soon get you into a load of trouble as you try to delay switching it off as you approach someone's rear end while unable to pull out due to other over taking vehicles.

 

if i remember correctly the thing i saw about it said that the cars were safe to go in upwards of 100mph and sense there would be no wrecks then no reason to go slow.

 

I don't know what the big deal is. This problem has already been solved through mass transit.