Garmin makes a pretty decent dash cam for documenting driving and drivers. The program is pretty extensive since it is for everyone but the commercial fleets are heading into the use of cameras more and more. There are other cheaper ones but to me, Garmin has the name and recognition and most of their reviews are positive. If you want to document more then a $250-$300 range camcorder (Nikon, Sony or Cannon) do an excellent job. I will probably choose the camcorder route since I want more to record scenery and towns we visit and these cameras do much better with the details in the distance. But they are also more work since the cards have to be downloaded when full opposed to the Garmin which can be set to over write footage which isn't needed anymore. In case of an event the camera can be instructed to save that portion for downloading.

 

This one looks forward only but the resolution is awesome and the form factor is about as compact and unobtrusive as any I've found.

https://www.amazon.com/Blueskysea-VI...rds=viofo+a119

 

Since using the adaptive cruise control in my wife's new Explorer I have come to wish I had it in my 2013 F150! Lots of times having to constantly adjust for vehicles slowing down and speeding up is a pain. From what I have experienced it actually DOES apply the brake and also the brake lamps when having to brake heavily. I would think that any braking it should illuminate the brake lights.


I have learned to always cover the brake whenever I see merging cars or vehicles driving at a slower speed. We were driving the wife's SUV and at some point some idiot basically cut into our lane and the vehicle sensed it and applied the brake quite hard to slow down.

 

I have been thinking about this and similar comments and I ask the question, "why do I have to get used to it"?

I drive old Fords with 4 wheel manual drum brakes. Often after replacing the brakes, the car will pull to one side or the other. Sometimes only mildly, sometimes very badly. Sometimes the pull goes away as the shoes lap into the drums and/or the adjusters on all 4 wheels tighten up. Sometimes the pull gets worse.

After a while, if the pull does not go away, I get "used" to it and can anticipate where the car is headed when I hit the brakes.

But does this mean that I do not fix the problem? I don't think so.

When I hit the brakes, I do not want to guess what the car is going to do, even if I get pretty good at guessing correctly. I want the car to stop straight and true, every time. If it does not, then I need to fix the brakes.

Same goes for the cruise control. I do not want to have to out-guess the software, trying to anticipate having to do "A" in situation "X" or do "B" in situation "Y". I want the car to do exactly the same thing every time, time after time. In my case, with "dumb" cruise control, the car is going to keep going at the speed that I selected unless I, or something else, stops the car. Maybe not very "smart", but very predicable.

PS - Car and Driver a while back tested a Jaguar with adaptive cruise control. It had the same problems going around curves (2 lane and 4 lane) as described herein. C&D got so frustrated that they turned the CC off.

 

Sorry to go a little off topic, but here is a good use of autonomous technology.

'Driverless' beer run; Bud makes shipment with self-driving truck

 

I see highway trolls trying to disrupt the automation. I also see a lot of hardworking people boycotting the brands which are taking away more jobs from the working man. And maybe even lawsuits from those who choose to get rich off causing wrecks from which they can sue. Maybe I am the pessimist but these things are shouting at me.

 

And since everything is recorded on video on these vehicles those people will be prosecuted for doing so. As far as the jobs, there is going to need to be someone to take over in the vehicle. When someone stops in front of the truck and won't move, someone will have to override the system and get around the car. It will be decades before there will be no one behind the wheel 100% of the time.

Also, right now there is a shortage of truck drivers. This will actually help you get products quicker.

Truthfully you need to look back when the car was first invented and all the things people said cars would do to the economy and the people. You sound a lot like those individuals.

 

I'll chime back in and glad I got some good dialog started.

After the event, it made me more aware of what it can and cannot do. I will also say I was attentive to my situation enough that within one second or so of the hard brake deployment I was on the gas which apparently disabled the braking of the adaptive cruise avoiding what I perceived was going to be a rearend hit.

I agree if there had been a wreck it would have been the driver hitting me cited for following too close (and all others behind them) but lets be real here, I am betting a full brake lock up at 70 mph in heavy traffic will probably cause a wreck 5 or more times out of 10.

I did not stop using the adaptive cruise, it is a nice feature that works pretty nice in heavy traffic and going through towns when everyone slows and speeds up... truck does it all. Yes you can feel if you drop in behind someone not running your set speed and merge out to avoid dropping speed and uncalled for braking. It will take some time to adjust driving habits for those that opt to use it.

My original intent was to make others aware of certain situations where it can and will brake and brake hard when you would have not braked at all.

The other times you will see un-required braking is a car leaving the lane in front of you (say going into a turn lane) and you know based on your speed, distance and their departure they will be out of your way before you get to them, the system still sees a car or part of a car in your lane approching fast and brakes when you would not have.

No it's not perfect, it can't make intelligent decision only pre-programmed responses to specific thresholds like distance to and object, scan from exactly in front of truck, speed of approach, etc.

Good discussion though. To each I say try it, be aware of the limitations, enjoy it if you like it, turn it off if you don't.

-Jeff

 

Everyone needs to remember too that this is the first adaptive cruise control ever used on large trucks. There is a reason Dodge and Chevy do not offer it on their trucks. Ford took a gamble, and I am glad they did, to put this technology out there in the real world on big trucks and see how it worked. As the video shows above, they have full automation on big rigs now. It is only a matter of time till your 2 hour commute becomes nap time

 

You should look more closely at my other posts, as well as this one. No where to I purport agreement with these theories but I also recognize the truth in human nature. The worst that could happen is a system which cannot correct for anomalies and then put a bored operator to monitor said system. And yes there is a real shortage of truck drivers, government induced through over regulation and tightening of laws and rules and dictated modifications to the equipment. There does not seem to be a shortage of steering wheel holders. And then the courts who automatically side with the automobiles in case after case where the truck was not at fault whatsoever. It has cost insurance payers billions. I don't give a hoot about your videos and other absolute proof, the court will always go against the truck driver or the truck and equipment. So to compare me to the naysayers of the start of the auto age is a mistake on your part. I accept and believe in technology, but the technology has to be correct beyond a shadow of a doubt before expecting unanimous and unbridled acceptance.

Maybe you missed my post about the antilock brakes on large trucks. The government forced them on the trucks 20 years before they were ready. They would often times release for no reason and the truck would have no brakes for 200-300ft. It took killing almost a dozen children in a school bus before the white suited clipboard ***** would believe the systems did not work.

And maybe you should have been sleeping in the bunk of my KW when I was rear ended in Elizabeth, NJ, parked, waiting to unload in a line of trucks. A nearly new Mercedes totaled his car and received whiplash which put him out of work for months. In spite of another driver who witnessed the crime the driver claimed I backed over him and because the chickenchit insurance company would not go after him they paid out $750K in damages and compensatory fees, and the insurance company, not the police, put a chargeable accident on my record. There were hundreds of scams from people who would crash on the highway then limp off to find a parked truck to run into and then claim the truck was at fault.

So when you go out and experience the real world you might learn to understand my comments and doubts concerning the human race and the in-ability of so many to get technology right. And the effect it has on the citizens and the workers of this country. Maybe symbolism alone of self driving trucks will create a stir, but I guarantee it will be real, whether you perceive it to be my view or not.

 

Thanks Jeff for updating us on your perception of the technology. Maybe not totally ready for prime time but there are times, well monitored which can assist the driver in having an easier trip. I am not ready to give up that control. I will wear the + and - buttons out first and I use them a lot but I also want to ensure that I pay complete attention to the operation of the vehicle and its relationship to the surrounding traffic. It will be a long time before George Jetson's vehicle will Uber me around.

 

Probably due to lack of attention, I had not picked up on the fact that you are or were a trucker. I'm glad that you took the post the way I meant it. In any group of people there are a small percentage who are complete jerks, and they are, unfortunately, the ones who draw everyone's attention. Then, of course, with any activity that requires knowledge and skill, there is another percentage of the group who are very visible because they continually display their lack of knowledge and skill.

 

Thanks Lewis. I got out of trucking back in 1981 but it is a field which once bitten you never lose the bug. I follow it fairly closely, would still be one if it were not too hard on the body and soul. I agree with much of what you say and hope to continue intelligent conversation with anyone who listen to my rants. I have done a lost of things in life out of interest in the respective fields and enjoy opinion and knowledge (LOL as long as it agrees with me!) The worst thing, however, I have ever done is attempt to purchase a Ford truck new. I really screwed this one up somehow.

 

The theory includes the passive features as well. People might not be consciously driving more dangerously because of things like anti-lock brakes, but a lot of people brake later simply because they can with anti lock brakes.

 

jschira - the adaptive cruise does do the same thing everytime it's in the same situation.. that's the beauty of software (provided it's well written). The "getting used to it" part is just learning how it views those different situations, and understanding the logic process it take in each situation.