*** Soap Box Warning ***

In many cases, operators are as much as fault for not being able to handle their cars. Of course, having a car go absolutely haywire so that you lose all control is not acceptable and if that is indeed what is happening, it has to be addressed. However, I work in IT and software engineering is never 100% bug free and of course you know what happens when you assume it is.

While I think that Toyota (and others) should do everything they can to fix such dangerous issues, I wish the media would also talk about education.

Certainly some of these issues would not be helped by improved driver's education but things like stuck floor mats would. Ask any auto enthusiast and they will agree that drivers need more education, especially in America. What do you do in those situations? How does your car handle at high speeds? How can you safely bring your car under control?

Then there's the even deeper question. Everyone's asking how defective systems could be released to the general public? My question is, why is there a system in the first place?

ABS, Automatic Transmission, Traction Control, Stability Control, Drive By Wire, Lane Departure Assist... The list of complex vehicle systems keeps gets bigger and bigger. The result? Drivers are getting dumber and the probability of failure is getting higher. Either one is bad on its own, but put them together and it's a recipe for catastrophic results.

Personally, I had a sticky gas pedal in my Honda Accord. I also had a loose floor mat issue. But, I know how to handle my car in emergency situations. Also, I had a manual transmission, so getting into neutral (with or without the clutch) was easy.

I'm not saying that car technologies are bad, but I do think that education and understanding how those technologies work (or don't work) is key. Not only do we need to train people how to handle their cars better, but we need to train them so that we don't forget how to drive at all.
-0/3-/2010 03: 2