Posted on 02/08/2016 5:22:46 PM PST by rickmichaels
Electronic gear shifters on some newer Fiat Chrysler SUVs and cars are so confusing that drivers have exited the vehicles with the engines running and while they are still in gear, causing crashes and serious injuries, U.S. safety investigators have determined.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in documents posted during the weekend, has doubled the number of vehicles involved in an investigation of the problem, but it stopped short of seeking a recall. The agency found more than 100 crashes and over a dozen injuries, mostly in Jeep Grand Cherokees.
Agency tests found that operating the centre console shift lever “is not intuitive and provides poor tactile and visual feedback to the driver, increasing the potential for unintended gear selection,†investigators wrote in the documents. They upgraded the probe to an engineering analysis, which is a step closer to a recall. NHTSA will continue to gather information and seek a recall if necessary, a spokesman said.
The investigation could determine just how much auto makers can change the way cars operate when they introduce new technology, and how far they can stray from conventional ways of controlling vehicles that drivers are accustomed to.
(Excerpt) Read more at theglobeandmail.com ...
Gee . . . “D” for Drive . . . and “R” for Race. How hard can it be?
Doesn’t anyone actually read an owner’s manual any more?
I think these are like a BMW where the lever doesn’t really move into a detent position, it just contacts switches and you have to watch the indicator to see which mode it’s in.
This why the push for self-drive cars.
Gimmie an old stick shift and I’ll be fine.
Brain Power should always be greater than horsepower when purchasing a modern vehicle.
You’ve got it: the gearshift isn’t confusing, the operators are just %@&! stupid.
That’s counterinstupidive.
Looks pretty intuitive to me.
Or is it like an F-16 side stick controller and doesn’t actually move?
They have had push button transmission before. I forgot who had them in the 50s and 60s but they had similar problems.
Maybe they need to do something like they do with tractor seats where if they are unweighted it shuts off the engine. Maybe they could have one where if it is unweighted or not in park?
I’ll keep my manual 5 speed. It’s the best anti-theft device there is.
Gotta be smarter than the gear lever, I guess. You should see the gear selector on the V6 Acuras. Just a kind of rocker switch.
They say a stick shift is the #1 theft deterrent available.
I know back in the early 80s the US Army decided to go exclusively with automatics because so few recruits knew how to drive manuals and it took too long to train them.
Ramblers had push button transmissions.
Maybe you and I are the only ones left who do.
Maybe you and I are the only ones left who do.
I’ve not driven a new Jeep so I can’t really comment.
On the BMW, it’s like a rocker switch forward/back.
No actual shift mechanism, just electricals.
So you really have to look at the shift indicator to know which mode it’s in.
This why the push for government control-drive cars.
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