Thread: My 330i review
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      07-01-2019, 06:11 PM   #19
golf_234
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Drives: E46, E90, F30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuller View Post
I don't want to detract from the g20 driving impressions, so please pardon the rant, but I find myself wishing many of the driving assist type technology wasn't available for mass consumption at this time. When the tech is powerful and developed enough to safely partake in full autonomous driving, it's good, until then it's merely a half measure, and that can be very dangerous. The cabin of your car is also not meant to be an extension of your living room, even if modern tech and refinement makes it seem that way. Driving is first, entertainment is not the priority, or shouldn't be the priority.

I lose count of how many times, daily, a fellow motorist creates a dangerous situation because they're obviously not paying 100% attention to driving. Sure everyone glances at the scenery, or changes tracks on their song list etc, but many people take it to an extreme. That's not just with infotainment distractions either, recently I was very nearly t-boned by a woman in a big suv, who thought it was perfectly fine to be applying her make up while driving through a busy intersection during rush hour. Fortunately I've learned to simply expect the stupidest, most irresponsible decisions from my fellow motorists in just about every situation, and this has saved me from collision more times than I can count. Unfortunately, this seems to be the rule, not the exception.

Sadly I've also witnessed multiple occurrences where pedestrians and bicyclists weren't as lucky. The positive here being that only one such accident involved a fatality (didn't see it occur, but drove by the aftermath).

Please pay attention to the road. Driving assistance technology, isn't meant to replace common sense and vigilance. In my experience it's often more of a distraction than a real safety net. In many ways I'd be happy to see a return to simplified infotainment systems, with limited function, and a return to manual transmissions. I'm not advocating for manual shifting for the purposes of fun either, but because it would force drivers to focus more on driving.

While I am with you 100% on that and the blatant irresponsibility that is out there, (Especially here in LA), I have to say that the driving assistance technology on the G20, I viewed overall as a positive. While in theory it seems that something like that may produce bad habits, in practice I found it was making me much more alert when I was straying from proper form. Literally does not let you leave a lane without signaling, unless you blatantly force the matter ... a positive, red alert when following too close... again a positive. Much more feedback, all designed around "proper" form and road rules. So In practice, I found it actually to be more fostering of proper habits than nothing at all, by a longshot. I felt that having the car looking out with sensors, blind spot, and everything, reaffirmed proper form. In fact some of my first notes when having the car were, wow, I am generally kind of bad with signaling with my F30, this is an eye opener. And dang well makes you notice if you are not centered in your lane.
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