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 ...
Yeah I learned to drive on a 63 Impala 283 V8 / 3 on the tree.
No, thank you. I like being able to determine what gear is selected by feel.
They have weight sensors for tractor seats?
That is awesome. My wife’s uncle was run over and killed by his own tractor, in Wise County, TX.
That technology would have prevented his death.
It sounds crazy but my 2013 Toyota Tacoma 6-cyl automatic is a 6 speed.
Me too, that’s what I’ve always driven.
I bought a new 86 F250 in that year. It had a 460 CID V8 and a Borg-Warner T-19 four speed manual. First gear was really low.
I did an experiment back around 1993. There was an extremely steep gravel road up a mountain to a scenic overlook. It was so steep that it was a little difficult to even walk up.
That old F-250 would climb that mountain and descend it in first gear without my touching the accelerator or brake. It would idle up the mountain.
It was a little more difficult going down. I would almost touch the brake a few times but held off.
The Hyundai elantra 6 speed transmission is really nice, especially when you shift to hybrid manual when you need more torgue available as one needs to hustle on and off the crazily designed ramps here in the Richmond metro area...shift to manual 3rd from drive and one is at 60 in about 3 seconds from 30 miles per hour and 80 in another 3 when upshifting to 4th. The available power will surprise you!
If the shift is electronic, then they should be able to rig it so that hitting the stop button shifts to Park, and THEN turns off the engine
That’s what a Prius does.
BTW. A Toyota tech guy came by to show us the new tech on the 16 Pruis. It will parallel park itself without the driver touching the wheel. It will back into a parking space without the driver touching the wheel.
The radar cruise will now stop the car completely. I was sitting in the back seat for this and it scared the crap out of me.
When you set the cruise there is a digital readout that tells you what MPH is set. Our tech guy set it to 122 mph. Why? I don’t know. Anyway. You set your following distance for the car in front. 1st setting is too close IMO. But that’s were we drove it.
What happens is, you are behind a car doing 70. The cruise will keep the Prius a set distance behind that car. Car moves out of the way, Prius speeds up to set speed until it encounters another car. Then slows to that cars speed. Pretty cool really.
But then what if the car in front of you stops? Toyota Tech is telling the driver “now watch this. Keep your foot away from the brake.” That would disengage the cruise and then the “cruise” wouldn’t stop you. I’m in the back going “Oh hell No!” But it stopped. Then, when traffic takes off from the light or whatever you push up on the cruise and it takes off, at the set distance from the car in front.
I was sweating bullets in the back and I think I jumped out of the car before it stopped. Once we got back to the dealership.....
Sadly, those accidents still happen because people disconnect the seat safety. I was almost victim when I rolled a small tractor with a mower. The mower almost got me when the tractor did not shut off. Fortunately, something hit the PTO switch and cut the mower before it got me. Such accidents also happen when operators fall asleep and fall off the tractor.
Sorry about your wife’s uncle. I have known a few too and those stories always hit me hard.
Not a big deal for automatics, which is what they were.
They disconnect it because a) any bouncing leads to shut-off at most inopportune times and b) they cannot ever leave the tractor just for a moment, such as to move an obstacle or something they forgot. Not good to keep turning off and on the engine.
It’s nice in theory, but as with most safety items, there is still a cost-benefit ratio to consider.
I have a neutral switch on my tractor that the seat sensor is wired into. If it is in gear and you unweight the seat, it shuts off.
If you are bouncing out of the seat and causing the tractor to shut off, you are driving waaaaay too fast..
Of course they were automatics. They never had push button manuals. As bad as the automatics were, a manual would have been completely unworkable. And having to look down to shift is a pretty big deal. There’s a reason push button selectors went away and never came back.
Look down?
Don’t lots of automatics, esp. today with the direct shift on the floor, require one to “look down”?
Mine do. In the past it was mostly column shift, basically right in front of us, but not these days.
The thing with autos is that, once you choose, that is generally it. Done. Not until one wants to stop or change direction does the shift mechanism need to come into play. There must be something alse about buttons that was problematic.
Nah, sometimes we’re going over rough ground.
I rolled down a steep rough hill commonly in my lawn-cutting days for my parents. Scared my neighbors. :-). Also got stuck on tree roots starting to poke through same. Once I pushed it off, it could start rolling and would be a shame if it didn’t mow while moving. Never get done otherwise!
BTW, which cars do you “look DOWN”? The old cars I recall have the buttons at dashboard level. Most were to the left of the wheel and some like Edsel ON the wheel column. How is that much different from normal steering-column shift lever as far as visual?
When you're doing a three point turnaround with traffic bearing down on you it's nice not to have to deal with fiddly buttons. Or when you're maneuvering a pickup to line up with a trailer hitch which can take some back and forthing. Or anytime you need to shift quickly and by instinct and feel.
Over time you'll gain some muscle memory even with buttons just as you would with any poorly designed tool or interface, but it will never be as natural or intuitive as a shift lever.
A bank of buttons is simple and cheap to make compared to a shift lever mechanism. That's what car makers would use if they could get away with it, but it's just too poor of a design in terms of its operation.
I disagree. I have no idea why one cannot figure out which button is which for just 5. We do it for numerical pads for cashiering without looking; I don’t know why it wouldn’t work for cars with large prominent buttons sticking out and pretty separate from each other. (Big question is whether the fingers really can easily press a button which might require some fine finger strength.)
Plus, today most commonly the front seat has been split to put the auto trans shift directly on the trans. While it is somewhat tactile, one often finds oneself looking down and right even to change from top to 1 or 2, just to ensure it’s in the right place. (Same applies to older column shift - one often has to ensure the 1 or 2 is properly engaged rather than the other Drive gears.)
Lever isn’t needed. Mercedes has gone to a steering column shifter and Lincoln has push buttons on the dash.
I passed on a new BMW for exactly that reason. It’s a flimsy stick that can easily change gears unintentionally.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.