The issue is that its not safe to activate the emergency brake at highway speeds. It seems like an anti-safety feature.
It is hard to believe the OPs story is entirely true, or wasn’t exaggerated.
More like the guy spilled some dip on himself while pulling out of the garage (because of the sudden halt) and it eventually turned into a “honey, i’m serious, I almost died” story because they were so embarrassed.
It's absolutely ridiculous to use such a signal to direct vehicle handling dynamics and control aspects.
source : I was a mechanic at a dealership as a young person for many years, and I replaced an untold amount of door switches as warranty work -- but back then the most that they did was annoy the driver with an intermittently lit cabin rather than brake-stomping.
Unless you are truly an expert spitter and the car is not moving, then spitting out the window is going to end up streaking the tobacco juice all across the exterior of the car. If the rear window is open, it might even go onto the back seat of the car. If you aren't moving then it will usually land somewhat vertically on the body of the car, or straight back (horizontally) if you're moving fast. It's always super tempting to try, but nearly impossible to pull off
Stop defending nannyfying conditioning.
Where is this pointed out? Opening and closing the doors at highway speed is not common, winter or otherwise.
I'm fine with "nannifying" cars when it gets these results. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_safety_in_the_U...
And adding safety features to cars is one thing. Indiscriminately slamming on the brakes without context is another.
A feature has to actually lead to safer outcomes. Braking hard when opening the door is highly questionable.
The people who decry the "nanny state" tend to oppose requirements for these, as well. You'll find plenty of people moaning about how they don't make cars like they used to, that bumpers require expensive replacement in low-speed impacts, that all this extra metal is expensive, etc.
> Indiscriminately slamming on the brakes without context is another.
I wouldn't call "when the driver door opens at speed" to be "indiscriminate". I don't doubt the sudden decceleration is a bit surprising (and it probably quickly trains you out of opening the door mid-drive), but if someone rear-ends you because of this that's clearly their fault for following too closely.
I’m sure you can find some people who find safer crumple zones unreasonable, but I don’t think most people fit into this category.
Automatic braking is far less clear cut, and as someone who prefers cars with safe frames, I don’t yet trust the car to know when it’s the right time to brake (some collision avoidance features are getting way better).
> I wouldn't call "when the driver door opens at speed" to be "indiscriminate".
I would. The car doesn’t know why the door was opened at speed, or what the consequences of braking in that moment might be.
The driver has a better chance of knowing these thing.
Furthermore, if the driver isn’t prepared for this behavior, the car has now created a dangerous situation for the driver, regardless of who is at fault if it causes a rear-end collision. A collision that would not have happened if not for the automatic behavior.
I have a friend who is allergic to bees. While driving one day (they were in the passenger seat), a bee made an appearance. It must have flown in through the sunroof at some point, and started flying around in a rather agitated fashion. When it landed on the edge of the driver door, I opened it slightly (at speed) and let the wind carry it away.
I think this is the only time I’ve ever opened the door while driving, but the one thing I did not need at that moment was my car thinking it knew better than me.
Until self driving tech has truly arrived, I’d argue this kind of automatic behavior is pretty indiscriminate. This is not the same as a collision avoidance sensor that knows the car is about to hit something.
Maybe I’m wrong and most people who open the door while driving are trying to escape the car and would benefit from slower speed. I doubt it. And if this is the case, one wonders if braking would work anyway (why else is someone trying to exit the car while moving?).
It is absolutely not, that's a silly claim. Go and push open your door on the highway, nothing much will happen. Wind will push it back, it'll mostly close and you can keep driving that way all day if you like.
Sure it's not the normal way to drive, but there's nothing dramatic about it, let alone "emergency".
News at 11.