High Tech Driver Aids Causing Driver Skills to Wane

[SMOODY]

I ran across this article today. Very interesting. The Times of London put 4 drivers through a series of simulated emergencies. First they did it with their daily drivers that had ABS and stability control, then in a 1990 3 series BMW. The results showed that all four drivers were in serious doodoo without the high tech aids.

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/art...973418,00.html

[AlfaEric]

I ran across this article today. Very interesting. The Times of London put 4 drivers through a series of simulated emergencies. First they did it with their daily drivers that had ABS and stability control, then in a 1990 3 series BMW. The results showed that all four drivers were in serious doodoo without the high tech aids.

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/art...973418,00.html

One person actually compared driving a 1990 3 series to driving a bus? Most people will perform better on a car they drive every day than one they have never driven before. If they went from daily driving an older car with less technology to one with more, they might find the results reversed.

---Eric

[mlytle]

One person actually compared driving a 1990 3 series to driving a bus? Most people will perform better on a car they drive every day than one they have never driven before. If they went from daily driving an older car with less technology to one with more, they might find the results reversed.

---Eric

yup. test was inherently flawed. drivers were already familiar with the charcteristics of their own car, but were expected to perform well in a car they had never driven before?

also not stated was what condition was the 1990 bmw in... if all the bushings hadn't been replace recently, then it probably did drive like a bus.

all the drivers seemed clueless.

[SMOODY]

I agree that the drivers were at a disadvantage by not being in their own cars. I am sure that effected the results.

I would not be suprised if the old BMW was in desparate need of some TLC. It was probably a "beater" that belonged to one of the reporters. The article also hinted at the fact that the 1990 BMW was running on tires from that era as well.

[SharkD]

Umm... all E30's had ABS (and E28's, E24's, etc), unless it was disabled on the test car...

That said, the only way that such a test could be reliable is if they were tested in a "modern" car that they had never driven before and in an older car that they'd never driven before.

And the bus comment comes from the guy with the AWD Subaru, who's probably never even had a hint of oversteer thanks to the coddling of his 4 wheel traction control. Yes, an E30 will swap ends rather quickly once it starts coming around, but they're fairly neutral cars and give lots of feedback to a driver who's paying attention.