Great, more government rules on the way....

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Jastreb
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Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by Jastreb »

From http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/motor- ... -unveiled/
Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has introduced a draft version of his Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010.
Establishes a Stopping Distance and Brake Override Standard — This provision mandates a performance standard by which every automobile must be able to stop within a certain distance when the engine is operating with an open throttle. Automakers may meet this standard through the installation of a brake override feature in which the brake pedal’s input to the engine’s computer always overrides the accelerator pedal’s input.
Establishes a Pedal Placement Standard — To address the potential for out-of-place floor mats and other objects to obstruct vehicle foot pedals, this provision would require NHTSA to issue a rule requiring minimum distances between floor pedals, minimum distances between foot pedals and the vehicle floor, and minimum distances to account for any other potential obstructions to pedal movement.
Establishes a Vehicle Event Data Recorders (EDRs) Standard — Like “black boxes” in airplanes, EDRs would record crash data information to help determine the root cause of a crash. This provision would require that manufacturers equip all new vehicles with EDRs that record at least the 60 seconds prior to — and 15 seconds after — a vehicle crash and airbag deployment. To protect privacy, the data on an EDR would be deemed the sole property of the vehicle owner or lessee.

Establishes a Transmission Configuration Standard — Consumers involved in sudden acceleration incidents noted that sometimes the label for “neutral” on gearshifts did not correspond with the actual neutral position of the gearshift. This provision would require NHTSA to issue a rule that requires an intuitive configuration and accurate labeling for gear shifting controls, including for drivers not familiar with the vehicle.
At best this will be more useless paperwork. At worst it will lead to further introduction of annoying features into what few manual equipped cars remain, that detract from the driving experience.
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Re: Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by AHTOXA »

Break override feature worries me. I wonder if it will also apply to manual cars? It shouldn't really but you never know. If it does, HT function may be compromised as the throttle may not be responding at all.
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Re: Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by FDSpirit »

Sweet! Now the next time I look for a car, it'll be more dumbed down and even heavier!
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Re: Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by gizmo »

as far as i'm concerned, if my loved ones are safer because a feature like that prevents some moron from killing them, i'm all for it even if i can't HT anymore.

period.
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Re: Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by FDSpirit »

gizmo wrote:as far as i'm concerned, if my loved ones are safer because a feature like that prevents some moron from killing them, i'm all for it even if i can't HT anymore.

period.
While that is 100% true, why not just have parts in the road test where these incidents are presented? At least this way, people will have some type of clue as to what to do. It says in my driver's manual if the throttle is stuck in the WOT position, to either clutch in or if in an auto, throw it into neutral. I bet if I went to a number of my friends and asked them if they were stuck in that situation(no pun intended), they wouldn't have the slightest idea. I figure if it's in the manual, why not have it on the road test? I've become a much better driver since 2003 when I got my learner's permit. When the day came for me to take my test, I grazed a curb while I was parallel parking. Guy didn't even care and passed me. Seriously, all I did was drive through a school zone twice, 3 point turn, and parallel park.
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Re: Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by six »

This bill will never pass.
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Re: Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by theholycow »

Meh, those laws don't sound so awful. I'd rather have it without the EDR though.

The proper labeling of the neutral position is desperately needed.
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Re: Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by Jastreb »

This bill will never pass.
Yes, because the powerful car enthusiast lobby will pressure congress to instead implement an overhaul and general toughening of driver education requirements. :roll: :lol:
paul34 wrote:Supposedly, with the way it is implemented on Audis and a few other makes who have had brake overrides for a while now, you have to be pressing the brake pedal for something like at least 2-3 seconds constantly at full pressure in order to trip the override. A simple HT is unlikely to hit that scenario, I think, unless you stay down on the gas for some reason.
Correct, my 08 VW Rabbit/Golf had brake override and I never had probelms with HT. I'm more worried about pedal spacing requirements. Next thing you know all cars will have a dumbo brake pedal, or it will be too far from the gas.

Also I doubt the EDR data will remain private. Insurance companies will want to get their hand on it. And with telematics systems like On-Star becoming more common - having your vehicle data automatically uplinked to some database is only a few lines of code away.
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Re: Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by FDSpirit »

Jastreb wrote: Correct, my 08 VW Rabbit/Golf had brake override and I never had probelms with HT. I'm more worried about pedal spacing requirements. Next thing you know all cars will have a dumbo brake pedal, or it will be too far from the gas.
:lol: . Can the brake pedal in an automatic get any larger?
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Re: Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by AHTOXA »

FDSpirit wrote:
Jastreb wrote: Correct, my 08 VW Rabbit/Golf had brake override and I never had probelms with HT. I'm more worried about pedal spacing requirements. Next thing you know all cars will have a dumbo brake pedal, or it will be too far from the gas.
:lol: . Can the brake pedal in an automatic get any larger?
Yeah, if they make it the size of a garden shovel blade.
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Re: Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by FDSpirit »

:lol:
I remember seeing this somewhere, just can't remember where. What is so hard about making the automatic shifter setup like it is in smaller cars? This pertains mostly to luxury vehicles. It looks confusing as hell with the way they are setup. Zig zag column gear selectors. Why not just a straight vertical column? I know it is much more useful if something like a stuck throttle becomes an issue. I knocked the Corolla into neutral one time trying to go up a hill. Yeah. At that moment I thought I was in the Civic. Tried to downshift into 3rd, which is what I use to go up the hill. I actually pushed in the imaginary clutch pedal :oops:. Thankfully it was late and nobody was on the road.
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Re: Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by Jastreb »

The worst is when you forget you're in a slushbox and you try to clutch in as you're coming to a stop. Everybody/thing in the car goes flying forward because the brake pedal is so wide you actually hit it with your left foot. :lol: I've had that happen to me a couple of times/
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Re: Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by theholycow »

^I've never had that happen.
FDSpirit wrote:What is so hard about making the automatic shifter setup like it is in smaller cars? This pertains mostly to luxury vehicles. It looks confusing as hell with the way they are setup. Zig zag column gear selectors. Why not just a straight vertical column?
There used to be only two kinds of automatic shifters until the marketing department took over. There is very little logic or technical validity to any of the newfangled designs...they're just there to sell cars to people who would rather look cool or just have no idea why it matters.

Until those came around, everything was a straight line PRND{whatever}. PRNDL, PRND2L, PRND321, etc. It was either on the column or the console/floor. Regardless it was always a straight line and all it had was a single lockout, either a button/lever or (for column shifters) having to pull it back while moving it up/down. (Well, many also had a brake lockout for P.) The lockout on many only affected P, R, and the rear of D letting you shift from N<->D without operating the lockout. If you knew how to operate one car, you knew how to operate them all without even looking.

There were exceptions but what I describe was in 99.9% of automatics.

While googling up pictures for this, I found some interesting stuff...
What's the deal with this thing found on an Oldsmobile 442?
Image

I tried to find out but failed; but I did learn of the Hurst Dual Gate shifter:
http://hrst79.tripod.com/79hrst/id11.html
Dual shift patterns provide the ultimate in street/strip control. It's strictly automatic on the left side and as precise as a fully sychronized manual control on the right. Hurst's positive latching mechanism and Neutral lock-out takes the guess work out of gear changing, going up or down. There's no possibility of missing a gear. No chance of overshifting into Neutral and maybe blowing an engine.
Guess what it looks like? The newfangled oddball ones we're dissing!
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Re: Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by AHTOXA »

Jastreb wrote:The worst is when you forget you're in a slushbox and you try to clutch in as you're coming to a stop. Everybody/thing in the car goes flying forward because the brake pedal is so wide you actually hit it with your left foot. :lol: I've had that happen to me a couple of times/
Been there, done that a few times.
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Re: Great, more government rules on the way....

Post by RITmusic2k »

Jastreb wrote:The worst is when you forget you're in a slushbox and you try to clutch in as you're coming to a stop. Everybody/thing in the car goes flying forward because the brake pedal is so wide you actually hit it with your left foot. :lol: I've had that happen to me a couple of times/
First time I get back in an automatic, every time I get back in an automatic.
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