Distracted drivers targeted by AI “Interior Monitoring System” arriving in 2022

Driving standards have fallen partly because technology has made it that drivers have neither desire nor need to learn the finer points of driving responsibly, courteously and safely in all conditions. It has to occur to one that, as with many things, qualifying for a driving licence has become more an academic exercise than being a sound common sense application.

However (as is commented in one response) cars have simply become too complex and too expensive for the average Joe Soap. It is not that the technology, or a gizmo, is expensive in itself. That is mostly as cheap as chips because of the economies of scale as a technological feature becomes the norm across the automotive industry. We can all recall when disc brakes were looked upon as being a luxury only for top end cars and then invariably for the front wheels only.

Because much of the kit is produced ‘on the cheap’, however, that which is of serious concern is the reliability of technological features and the ability of the majority of dealers to resolve an issue which may be flagged up on a display but has not discernible effect upon the performance of the vehicle. However, as we all know, as long as they can conspire to make it work until the end of the warranty period the industry is not really that bothered about issues which may be inflicted upon subsequent owners who then have to pay through the nose to rectify something which in reality should be fixed for a few quid.

Indeed, that which technology has done for the automotive industry (and many of the teccy gizmos are merely ‘must have’ fashion accessories) is afford opportunity to that industry to front end load the prices of cars with costly but mouth-watering add-ons but at equally mouth-watering prices for gadgets which cost them mere pence or a few pound at most to install on the production lines. Indeed, I know of instances where a gizmo is installed on all models in a maker’s range but charged as a luxury extra at point of sale and all that was needed to enable the device was the insertion of an additional fuse or a circuit link.

Automotive technology especially plays to the pockets of those who don’t pay their own bills and the fears of those who do but have either limited or no technical knowledge and it enables authorised dealerships to exploit those ignorances. I know first hand of a Mercedes car owner who panicked when his remote fob refused to unlock his car. At that time I too had a Mercedes, a Sprinter based motorhome and his fob was identical to mine. I suggested he replaced the fob battery, but, no, he had been dealership conditioned into taking his car to them for the smallest hiccup. Eventually, after some fiddling with the fob (I suspect he had accidentally ‘un-set’ and then accidentally re-set the thing again) he was able to open the car and he immediately drove to the local dealership. He asked them for advice and to look into the problem. The response was he needed to make an appointment to book in the car for a diagnostic check, at a cost of £140.00 plus VAT. He drove away as a disgusted customer, but still a worried man. I am unsure how he resolved his dilemma (if he really had one!) but he is still using the same car some four years later! However, it is a clear example of how the motor industry is ripping off car owners by playing on their fear of their teccy gadgets failing and their ignorance of what a fault may truly be.

I am not a ‘Luddite’ type. Indeed, I was an engineer during the whole of my working life and I continue to be fascinated by technological advancements, especially within the industrial sectors with which I was involved. Some technology is brilliant and unquestionably valuable. However, that is not for all technology and, for sure, because the motor car especially remains as one of the most emotive factors in most lives, especially for males, the car marketeers live with a comfortable knowledge that they can charge the earth for something which, in truth, cost virtually nowt to provide. It is, as with so many facets of life all about ‘hidden persuasion’ and most of us fall for it hook, line and sinker. The automotive industry is merely an extension of the horse dealing world, from which automotive dealer sector has learned most of its tricks.

As for governments introducing legislation to make some new gizmo a compulsory feature, many things (such as seat belts) are unarguably beneficial. Others are of dubious benefit, but it does not take much for the smooth tongued automotive industry vested interests to persuade often less than competent civil servants and invariably totally incompetent politicians that some new gizmo must be introduced because it’s a ‘good thing’. May be we should be more often asking, ‘for whom’?

So then. What about police cars. On the TV we see police drivers holding phones/ comms devices whilst driving and doing all manner of things at high speed while on a chase. Are they above the law (like politicians eg Johnson) ??

I recently bought my first car with collision avoidance and what a pain it is. If I try to approach or reverse off my driveway at a speed that it thinks is too fast, it will sense either the pavement or the road as a hazard and jam the brakes on and thus the engine stalls. Intelligence – my rear bumper!