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[martin42]

Opinions please,as more cars and vans come out the stuff like hill start,auto headlights etc,auto reverse parking etc,is it me or are people just becoming to bloody lazy to do anything for themselfs when in control of a car or van.I personally hate them as I have hill start on my new transit van,which is very hit or miss if it works,what do you lot think about them?

[Kevin Wood]

Gimmicks, IMHO. Anyone who gets excited about things like this probably shouldn't be on the road.

[martin42]

Totally agree...

[Vamps]

I quite agree, why the need for all this modern stuff on cars n vans available today, if they get much more comfortable to drive people will fall asleep or get otherwise distracted, ffs they will be putting heaters in cars next.........

[cleggy]

I quite agree, why the need for all this modern stuff on cars n vans available today, if they get much more comfortable to drive people will fall asleep or get otherwise distracted, ffs they will be putting heaters in cars next.........

Only as an optional extra and maybe a radio

[Vamps]

I quite agree, why the need for all this modern stuff on cars n vans available today, if they get much more comfortable to drive people will fall asleep or get otherwise distracted, ffs they will be putting heaters in cars next.........

Only as an optional extra and maybe a radio

Can they do that?.........

[martin42]

It will be a gramophone for you vamps lol

[Vamps]

It will be a gramophone for you vamps lol

Great, I need something to play my new 78's on, since I hurt my wrist........

[AndyRoid]

Gimmicks, IMHO. Anyone who gets excited about things like this probably shouldn't be on the road.

I totally agree, although items such as reversing sensors do make life that little bit easier when parking.

I think the actual test should be taken in a MK1 3 litre Capri, in the pissing rain, in the middle of any major city during rush hour.
If you get through that without norsing it up, then you deserve a licence.

[TheBoy]

Whilst I agree that some of these are (probably underdeveloped) gimmicks, there are some people who may find them genuinely useful. I do find a lot of this "we didn't have that when I learnt to drive, thus its not needed" smacking a bit of ego measuring, although I've been guilty of it myself - after my Mk2 GTE, where I felt the ABS was too intrusive, I purposely bought a car without ABS.

Some of these "gimmicks" may turn out to be as useful as gimmicks of yesteryear (with refinement), such as:
ABS
Airbags
TC and/or stability programs
Reversing sensors
Reversing cameras
Head restraints
Seat belts
Radios
Remote locking
Wing/door mirrors
Antidazzle rear view mirror
Automatic antidazzle rear view mirror
Auto tilting passenger mirror on larger vehicles when selecting reverse
and a controversial one, lane changing indicators
Cruise and Radar distance controllers

I'm sure things like auto parallel parking will become commonplace over the coming years, which I'm sure would help many. Yes, I know that we should all be able to parallel park first time, every time, even when under pressure from queues of traffic, but I'm sure there is nobody here who has never needed a 2nd attempt

[YZ250]

Opinions please,as more cars and vans come out the stuff like hill start,auto headlights etc,auto reverse parking etc,is it me or are people just becoming to bloody lazy to do anything for themselfs when in control of a car or van.I personally hate them as I have hill start on my new transit van,which is very hit or miss if it works,what do you lot think about them?

I quite like this on our car. It means even useless drivers can do a hill start  ................... providing the hill is steep enough to activate it, which I assume is what you meant by 'hit and miss'. 

[Varche]

When my dad took his driving test, the examiner got out a matchbox and put that under the back wheel. If you crushed it at all you failed.!!

Driver aids are just a prelude to the state taking control of driving the vehicle for you and debiting you as it does so. Determining speed, distance from next vehicle, acceleration. The only time you might have control of your vehicle would be on local roads.   

[Sir Tigger KC]

I've got quite confused and in a kerfuffle in the past over electronic aids! 

I had a Peugeot 407 for a while which had auto headlights and wipers.  I didn't know about them and couldn't understand why the headlights would come on randomly and the wipers would suddenly swish across at the merest hint of dampness!!      and when I was at my mate's in Texas last month his wife's Audi Q7's tailgate was electronic, so you pressed the keyfob or there is a button on the inside edge to close it.  I didn't know and couldn't understand why the bloody thing was so hard to close!      Doh!!