The driving controls in cars should be standardized for safety

[FarCenter]

Having driven a fair assortment of rental cars, I've always found it annoying to have to figure out where various things are when renting a model I haven't driven before.

Now it turns out that things like whether you stop the engine by pressing and holding down the start button versus pressing the start button twice can be a safety problem.

How about standardizing the position and operation of the major driving controls in cars?

Especially,
- position, shape, travel, resistance feedback for the brake, clutch and accelerator pedals,
- location and operation of the parkng brake,
- position, shift pattern, and interlock of the shifter,
- position and operation of the start/stop mechanism.

Some of these would require 2 or 3 standards in order to accommodate automatic versus manual transmissions, etc.

The manufacturers can "innovate" by confusing us with the operation of the sound system, navigation aides and other non-essential gadgetry.

[HopeHoops]

1. Fuck that - the "standard" that evolved would probably be the worst of the lot - like a Toyota.

:hi:

[wtmusic]

6. The W3C's so-called "standard" for web programming

is largely ignored. Clunky, arbitrary, out-of-touch.

The market players (Netscape, Mozilla, Microsoft, Adobe) have written the rule book.

[Tesha]

8. You have no idea what you're talking about.

All the major parties are very involved in the W3C activities;
for example, where do you think HTML5 is coming from?

Standards bodies maybe slow, but most of them eventually
get there and much of the work they do is very important.

Tesha

[wtmusic]

14. Since you do know what you're talking about

what does HTML5 hold in store? I can hardly sleep.

[Statistical]

19. Just one example: play video without using crappier resource hogger flash.

YouTube has a HTML5 beta for playing/controlling videos without any plugin required.
Of course you need a compatible browser than understands HTML5.

[wtmusic]

24. That "crappy resource hogger" made YouTube possible

Remember QuickTime? RealVideo? They didn't work. Adobe's (Macromedia's) .FLV format set the standard because it works better than anything else.

The W3C is (and always has been) 5-10 years behind.

[Statistical]

29. Now HTML5 works better.

Far less system resources required for same video, more developer flexibility, and no proprietary 3rd party plugins.

HTML5 will be mainstream in less than year. There are already beta versions that support it.

[HopeHoops]

35. Wow. You are just SO wrong about W3C.

Firefox is the second closest adherent, only behind Opera as far as I know. Sure, Micro$oft is about as out of compliance as is possible, but that shouldn't be a shock to anyone. Safari is pretty close behind Firefox.

The only way your observation is even close is the fact that EVERYONE ignored the CSS standard in the early days and that's why HTML became so polluted with formatting tags (remember BLINK?). Even IE is starting to comply with CSS, at least in a minimal way. The other browsers are very much but not entirely in compliance.

Ten years ago, it wasn't possible to write code that would look right in every browser. Now I can produce pages (hand coded by the way) that look perfect in Firefox, Safari, and Opera. They're reasonably close in IE and much more so than they were under IE 5 or even 6. That's entirely because of the W3C standards.

[wtmusic]

42. CSS is one small part of the W3C standard

and a lot of it is never used, because it's redundant, makes no logical sense, and just plain looks bad. A pixel here, a pixel there...it's the information that counts, right?

I will grant you that compliance is easier because of CSS (ten years ago it was possible to create pages that looked the same in every browser, but it was a pain in the ass). Now google SMIL, SPARQL, or CC/PP - three examples of laboriously thought out web standard sets that went nowhere.

Why?

"The W3C has been traditionally bad at creating standards. What they are incredibly good at is documenting and normalizing what has already been implemented in browsers. Such activity led to the creation of HTML 4 and DOM Level 1 based mostly on innovations included in Internet Explorer 4. Yes, folks, Microsoft was more influential over the creation of these standards than any other browser vendor because they went ahead and innovated without waiting for someone to tell them it was okay.

In fact, many of Microsoft’s innovations have become standards on their own. The innerHTML property. The XMLHttpRequest object. Rich text editing via designMode. No browser would dare implement anything without supporting these; that’s what makes them standards. The W3C is now going through the process of formalizing these in the HTML 5 specification and the XMLHttpRequest specification."

http://www.nczonline.net/blog/2008/11/28/what-are-web-standards/

See also:

W3C Digging the XML Grave

http://standardssuck.org/w3c-digging-the-xml-grave

[NightWatcher]

2. or how about people learn to properly drive their car before heading out in traffic

I dont want to see an F150 set up to drive like a Scion B

[FLDCVADem]

32. Agree!

What a novel approach...figure out what the hell you're doing BEFORE you take the car out on the road.

[dmallind]

3. No. Drivers should familiarize themselves with controls with no engine running and parked. NT

[gkhouston]

5. It's amazing how many people don't, though. I take time to do this, and on more

than one occasion have had the rental agent come out to see if I was having a problem with the vehicle when all I was trying to do was be sure I had the mirrors adjusted and knew where the wipers and lights were before I set off.

[NoNothing]

4. Do not want

Variety is the spice of life.

[Tesha]

7. I think we've lost some of the standardization in recent years.

Saab ignition switches aside, cars seemed to be
converging on a few sensible standard arrangements
of controls. Sure, there were a couple of places where
the wiper controls and headlight controls were placed,
but other than that, the main controls were pretty-well
standardized.

But now, with the proliferation of ridiculously-complex
electronic controls for heating/cooling/navigation/seating
and the like, cars are getting too complex for the good of
the drivers, especially in a rental situation or where
the driver is swapping among several cars.

I think you make a good point and maybe regulatory standards
need to evolve to limit this, at least for a few safety-critical
controls.

Tesha

[louis-t]

9. That's sooooo socialist!

:sarcasm: B-)

[liberal N proud]

10. Just as our home style vary so do our styles in cars

That includes the interior and features offered.

I don't want my Chrysler to look like a Kia inside. Or My BMW to look like a Toyota.

Variety is one reason we buy different cars.

[lukasahero]

16. Thank you

There's a reason we bought a Mini Cooper and not Camry.

Ideas like this are exactly why the Dems are called the "Nanny" party.

[Fumesucker]

11. I *hate* foot operated emergency brakes/parking brakes..

And any car that has a bench seat has them as well as a lot of cars that don't.

A foot operated parking brake is largely useless in an emergency because you cannot modulate it like you can a hand operated lever, once the brake is on, that's it, you have to reach below the dashboard to release it..

[FarCenter]

17. Plus, if you have a manual, you can't use the foot-operated brake to hold the car on a hill

It is much easier to start on an up-hill slope when you can use a hand parking brake to hold the car while moving the right foot from the brake to accelerator before releasing the clutch.

[Fumesucker]

25. Good point..

But only a tiny fraction of cars in America these days have a clutch, the majority of Americans can't drive a stick.

My daughter actually shocked her husband's Marine buddies because she could drive a stick and do it well.

[Romulox]

37. You DO NOT need the parking brake at the bottom of the hill!

You need to practice until you've mastered this routine driving procedure. If you can't go up a hill without rolling backward or stalling, you can't drive a stick.

[Johonny]

12. How about starting by making bumpers standardized :)

What a concept the devices designed to cushion impact actually being able to touch each other in a collision.

[FarCenter]

23. Or maybe able to actually withstand a "bump" without costing $ thousands to repair?

[Tesha]

38. That would be Reagan's administration that decided good bumpers weren't worth it.

The 5 MPH standard went out the window as did some "bumper compatibility"
regulations.

That made the cars slightly cheaper to make and far more expensive to repair.

Tesha

[petronius]

13. Cars have start buttons now? I did not know that...

What happened to keys? :shrug:

[lukasahero]

15. Some of the hybrids have start buttons

It's cute, really. :)

[FarCenter]

21. It's not just hybirds; conventional cars have start buttons too

They sense the key in your pocket -- a so called "proximity key".

You then start the car by pressing the button.

http://cars.about.com/od/lexus/ig/2009-Lexus-IS350-photo-gallery/2009-Lexus-IS-350-start-button.htm

[lukasahero]

43. Huh, now I didn't know *that*

Learn something new every day. :)

[slackmaster]

18. They're a lot closer to standardized now than they were 20 years ago

I rented a Dodge Avenger for a day this week. The learning curve on the main controls was very short. I've had the same experience with many rentals over the years.

The radio and climate controls OTOH...

[jdlh8894]

27. The learning curve

Started my van last night(not driven in about 2 months) Pouring down rain and cold as usual.Was taking son to lesson and could NOT remember where all the basics were located.Maybe age combined w/CRS??

[Roland99]

20. What I hate are the auto-on headlights (with the taillights NOT on!)

I don't know how many times I've seen a vehicle going down the road with NO taillights on but then I see the headlights are on.

[FarCenter]

22. I also hate the delay that some cars have in turning off the interior lights

I'm never quite sure that I've done the right things to ensure that they will really go off -- rather than running down the battery.

[gkhouston]

36. I usually check the vehicle with the lights deliberately on to see if it will beep at me.

Most cars do, these days, which helps with the "walking away from a car with the lights on" paranoia.

[Edweird]

26. Not. Variety allows people to find what suits them. That would be eliminated if all cars were

made to suit you.

[TheMightyFavog]

28. I'd just be happy with standardizing which side of the car the gas cap is on.

I've pulled into the gas station on the wrong side too many times after I got my Cutlass Ciera. :grr: :mad:

[47of74]

30. What about putting the dimmer back on the floor?

To keep teabaggers from causing accidents when they get their feet caught in the steering wheel trying to dim the lights.

[12string]

31. standardize cars

I love cars.One of the reasons I love cars is because of all the cool gadgets and different styles that have been available through all the years.A little variety is good.Why would you want to ruin that for everybody else?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

33. Or you could just spend a few minutes learning to operate the car properly. n/t

[Tesha]

40. Cars shouldn't require "check rides" or approval-in-type. (NT)

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

41. I've never found a car...

...that I couldn't learn to operate properly and safely within ten minutes, as long as the user manual is provided. Most rental places seem to be pretty good about it these days, though.

[MadHound]

34. For many vehicles that simply can't be

Things like shift patterns and such are based on the type of engine and transmission.

I like the differences in cars, and really it isn't that hard to figure out how different models work. Generally takes me five minutes or less.

[Tesha]

39. Manual transmission shift patterns *ARE* dependent on the internal architecture...

...of the transmission, but automatics are standardized by regulation to
use some variation on P-R-N-D...other-optional-settings.

Similarly, I'm pretty sure "steering wheel lock" is standardized by regulation;
although many people have claimed in many replies all around DU that
they're afraid of locking the steering wheel by turning the ignition key
to "Off", I don't think regulations allow that; there *MUST* be another
action required such as removing the key from the ignition lock or
pressing an interlock button and turning the key further.

There's no reason why things like engine on/off and some other controls
can't be standardized as well.

Tesha