[Kal101]

A post on a previous thread kind of got me thinking . Without wishing to put anyone down or be disrespectful to anyone has the driving experience been dumbed down.

When I was even younger I drove an Opel Kadett and moved upto an Opel Manta both rear wheel drive fairly light and my daily drives which I drove ( had to ) in all weathers on older tyre compounds without any driver aids.

Nowadays despite cars getting better we seem to need

Traction control

Driver warnings e.g. Blind spot monitoring, distance to the car in front , lane departure , road sign recognition

Sat nav

Cars that self park

Automatic cruise control

Etc etc

Eventually we will be getting the autonomous car thanks google.

So my point is are we dumbing down driving, are the manufacturers telling us that we need this stuff (sales and profit) or is it because we are all too distracted by other in car features and I appreciate the roads are busier etc.

Thoughts and discussions.

[....,,,,..,,..]

Yes and no.

We have injectors rather than carbs, discs rather than drums, power steering.

Then driving aids stuff, ABS - was amazing when you first used it.

ESP/DSC became mandatory and driving a big estate etc, it does come in handy, couple with abs and decent discs it has saved my bacon a few times.

[Tengocity]

Yes, to some extent, but it's still safer than ever due to that progression. When you consider how much busier roads are now I think that shows it's justified.

And were drivers that much better before? I'm not sure about that.

Many on the forum are driving enthusiasts and this their skills will be better than average probably, and it would have been the same in previous generations.

[Kal101]

Originally Posted by Brigand

Yes and no.

We have injectors rather than carbs, discs rather than drums, power steering.

Then driving aids stuff, ABS - was amazing when you first used it.

ESP/DSC became mandatory and driving a big estate etc, it does come in handy, couple with abs and decent discs it has saved my bacon a few times.

True - so cars have got better which is to be expected with engineering progressing the way it does but it still begs the question are they making us lazy - you and I were taught "only a fool breaks the two second rule" now the car bleeps at you.

We were taught "The lifesaver" look over the shoulder - again the car tells you.

I can reverse park into a space - now cars can do that for me and tell me if the space is big enough.

[Kal101]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Yes, to some extent, but it's still safer than ever due to that progression. When you consider how much busier roads are now I think that shows it's justified.

And were drivers that much better before? I'm not sure about that.

Many on the forum are driving enthusiasts and this their skills will be better than average probably, and it would have been the same in previous generations.

Definitely safer out there thanks to advances in safety etc.

Roads are busier but speed limits are the same(!!!) or lower but is average journey speed any higher ??

Better drivers - probably not. Definitely a change in mindset where DUI is now considered socially unacceptable however the car is now considered by many as a suitable place and time to text , put on make up etc.

Which again begs the question is familiarity breeding contempt and are we allowing dumbing down.

Point in question - people blindly driving into a river because the sat nav told them to.

[MrChumley]

I don't spec any of the driver warnings (although I nearly went for lane change), I gave up on self park in my last car, and I can't remember the last time either the DSC or ABS kicked in.

The main difference I notice from my first car (Capri) is that this one actually starts every morning.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Kal027

Definitely safer out there thanks to advances in safety etc.

Roads are busier but speed limits are the same(!!!) but is average journey speed any higher ??

Better drivers - probably not. Definitely a change in mindset where DUI is now considered socially unacceptable however the car is now considered by many as a suitable place and time to text , put on make up etc.

Which again begs the question is familiarity breeding contempt and are we allowing dumbing down.

Point in question - people blindly driving into a river because the sat nav told them to.

I really don't think anything has changed from previous generations. Plenty stupid drivers in time gone past.

Except more of them went through hedges backwards, and didn't wear seat belts.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by MrChumley

I don't spec any of the driver warnings (although I nearly went for lane change), I gave up on self park in my last car, and I can't remember the last time either the DSC or ABS kicked in.

The main difference I notice from my first car (Capri) is that this one actually starts every morning.

Me neither, except you effectively get rear end collision warning when you have ACC. Anything else- blind spot warning etc is not something I want to rely on.
Parking sensors are great but I find my rear camera has dumbed me down!

[MrChumley]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Anything else- blind spot warning etc is not something I want to rely on.

I agree, it's just that since I started wearing specs, I find it a little harder to see when people come flying up my nearside in the dark on the motorway.

Unfortunately I left it too late and the specification's locked.

[Herr Dreier]

Probably, but not all driver aids are bad.

I used to, when reversing, look out the back window by turning right round.

Now, I can't do that - partly because I have a much larger car, partly because of thick chunky head-rests and thick c pillars, but mainly because I'm getting older and can't rotate round like I used to.

As a result, I reverse using mirrors and the reversing cam is really handy.