January 31, 2024
"The visibility out the back of many cars is pretty constrained. And then the second you have a large passenger in the back or any luggage, you can’t see anything out of it at all."
Said Jonathan Goodman, the head of Polestar in the UK, quoted in "First car without a rear window coming to Britain’s roads/A car manufacturer promises drivers a far greater field of vision by replacing the rear-view mirror with a video feed said to be particularly effective at night" (London Times).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
49 comments:
Idiotic.
Tiny cars are needed because gasoline is so expensive in Europe.
The Left works very hard to make the common person's life completely miserable.
I'd be interested in seeing and driving a Polestar.They are built by Volvo. I've had 3 Volvos in my life and all of them have been great cars. But I'd need to see it, drive it, then decide just how much I'm actually willing to spend on a car. Interestingly, as a kid who grew up in Detroit, I was extremely loyal to American cars until one too many Thunderbirds had way too many transmission problems and Ford seemed disinterested in helping me on it. I moved over to Volvo then and I don't think I've even looked at an American car since.
But I've read some great things about Polestar (though I cannot access this article). I would not be worried about having a back window view if they create another way for me to view behind me. And...if that existing window still allows for natural light to come in. I'm confident they've worked on this and figured it out. They are not Boeing.
My car has a camera for reverse. It's much better than anything I could see by looking over my shoulder. Functionally, I like this. Humans want light, though. It's a car, not a tank. Give us a port window, at least.
Good. As long as the monitor is at eye level, video should be more effective than a mirror. There ought to be an option to reverse the image so that people who have grown accustomed to the mirror image won’t be confused by what they see. U.S. law needs to be revised to allow similar rear view video.
Virtual reality.
There's definitely a Doberman standing sideways in the rear blocking effect.
Side mirrors are all that is needed if you know how to drive.
"Side mirrors are all that is needed if you know how to drive."
And that's why rear-view mirrors are necessary.
Temujin,
Depend on a backup camera for rear visibility? No way, I've seen too many movies.
"Good. As long as the monitor is at eye level, video should be more effective than a mirror."
It could be right where the rear view mirror is
"Side mirrors are all that is needed if you know how to drive.". (emphasis added)
I drove a big panel truck (like the brown UPS delivery trucks) when I was in college, delivering for the Madison libraries. I know this to be true. Problem is, many people don't know how to drive. I don't think this is a good idea. The more information about what's around you, the better, IMO.
My rear view screen is part of the rear view mirror. Don't like it. I prefer to look backwards. I still have to look sideways on both sides when backing out of a parking space because the camera doesn't cover the sides.
Often, the camera lens is obscured with water, and the image is blurry.
"It could be right where the rear view mirror is"
This is an esoteric concern, but I regularly drive in left-side-of-the-road countries. I have gotten quite comfortable doing this EXCEPT for one thing; backing up. It seems experience has hard-wired my brain to understand the geometry behind me when I look in the rear view mirror from the left-side seat, and when I do so from the right-side seat (which is where the steering wheel is for left-side driving), my brain can't sort out what it's looking at. I have talked to professional drivers who grew up driving on one side of the road, then switch to the other side. It's a pretty interesting phenomenon.
The video feed screen either needs to be where the rear-view mirror is and/or where the side-mirrors are. If otherwise, one is going to create more accidents than are prevented because the use of the mirrors becomes extremely hardwired into the brain by the time you have driven for a couple of years. A bigger concern, however, is going to be this- what do you do with the car if the cameras stop working?
This is old technology. Even the side mirrors can be replaced by monitors.
It's the government that has held it back...
No sorry I don't want "Video". I want to look. And Trust my own eyes.
Might want to run this by the po-po before you bring it to the US.
'There's definitely a Doberman standing sideways in the rear blocking effect.'
I keep the dead hookers in the trunk so it's not much of an issue...
Blogger Mike of Snoqualmie said..."My rear view screen is part of the rear view mirror. Don't like it. "
Mine, too. I need to put on my reading glasses in order to see it.
"Give us a port window, at least."
The Mercury astronauts understood this.
If you go fast enough, all danger comes at you from the front.
My Defender has a rear view camera in the shark fin and the video shows up in the rear view mirror. I love it. There is also a rear view mirror if I want to look at half of the spare tire, rear seat head restraints or check if the rear window is dirty or very dirty…
Several of the mid sized SUVs available now (I'm going to replace my current car this spring) have a video rear view mirror. I'm not certain whether it's on all the time--or only when the back of the vehicles is full of people or cargo.
“My car has a camera for reverse. It's much better than anything I could see by looking over my shoulder. Functionally, I like this. Humans want light, though. It's a car, not a tank. Give us a port window, at least”
It’s apparently a US DOT rule that rear view cameras have to be turned off at 5 mph, or some such. I’ve had two aftermarket cameras in our older Tahoe, and that feature is turned off, so that the rear view camera is on all the time. I like it, esp since dark tinting on the windows makes it hard to effectively use the rear view mirror. Our 2023 Audi has cameras and sensors all over the place, with, again, darkly tinted windows for the AZ/NV sun. I would very much like the rear view cameras to be on when I am on the freeways here. A favorite trick here in Las Vegas is to come screaming up behind you, ignore your turn blinker, pull into the lane you are moving into, and lay on their horn when they have hit their brakes. A lot of slalom driving here, and esp, but not exclusively, on the freeways. Scary to the sexagenarian here. I can see it better in the rear.view camera in the Tahoe, than in the new Audi.
So, yes, I would love a full time panoramic rear view camera, instead of a rear view mirror. Put it maybe above eye level, all the way across, instead of over in a display on the right. I have taught myself to include the rear view camera in a quick scan of my instruments in the Tahoe, but it still requires a look down to the right, taking my eyes off the road. Or, maybe replacing the instrument readouts directly in front. The Audi lets you tailor which display you see in a relatively wide display across the top of the dashboard - just not the cameras. I tend to drive with a map there, overlayed with a smaller speedometer and tach, and another (Apple) map in the larger display to the right. Displaying the rear view cameras there would be far more useful, than any of the options that Audi provides. In modern cars, you really don’t need to see the rest of the instruments most of the time, front and center. Still, I would prefer a broad panoramic display right above eye level, showing both blind spots, along with what’s directly behind me.
One of the interesting features in some EVs are much larger central displays. Teslas have big ones, but the Mustang I rented a couple weeks ago was massive. And why not? They are cheap enough now. Why not move everything that you don’t really need anymore over there. I don’t look at the tach more than every other week or so. Etc.
Tom T: From the late Raul Julia, and that great movie, The Gumball Rally, I quote, "And now, my friend, the First Rule of Italian Driving: What's behind me, is not important."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDaONrHK1f8
“If you go fast enough, all danger comes at you from the front”
Not on the Las Vegas freeways. There always seems to be someone driving faster, zooming up behind you, then breaking one way or the other at the last miniute to pass you.
Some cars in the US already have video in place of the rear view mirror.
What Original Mike said. Van and big truck drivers deal with this all the time and can back up to a particular location using just mirrors and moving your head. When driving forward, I’ll be happy that fewer people are driving worrying about the rear view mirror.
I have a high top Ford van without rear windows. With decent side mirrors, I’ve never needed them.
Embrace the power of "and." How about we keep designing cars with as much direct visual field as possible, AND continue to develop and employ technology that enhances our ability to see as much as possible of the roads around us?
I'm hoping they will develop windshields that can automatically filter light and enhance details. Think how great it would be if sun glare was eliminated; if on-coming headlights didn't blind you; if the windshield displayed enhanced details on dark roads, as though we had the eyes of a cat. Or if there was a way to somehow suss out basic sonar-type shapes ahead of us when we are caught in a patch of fog or driving rain.
I just got a new car, and even compared to the reverse camera of the same car three years ago, the new camera is outstanding at night. The old one was all but useless even with the reverse lights on.
Quaestor said...
"Good. As long as the monitor is at eye level, video should be more effective than a mirror. There ought to be an option to reverse the image so that people who have grown accustomed to the mirror image won’t be confused by what they see. U.S. law needs to be revised to allow similar rear view video."
I don't know about other vehicles, but our Chrysler minivan's backup camera reverses the image just as a mirror would. As a bonus, it includes a bird's-eye view of the vehicle and its surroundings which is great at identifying people or objects in the path of travel.
I don't think this is a good idea. The video will eventually fail and it will be an expensive repair. I can see it as a supplement to a rear window, but not a replacement. Plus, the rear of the car will be dark and depressing.
One of the reasons that I love my Nissan D21 pickup is the giant rear window.
Seems pretty close to the triumph of technique over purpose.
Rented a Tesla last summer when in Chicago at my wife's assistance. The 360 degree view on the screen (positioned where my radio is on my Infinity) was fantastic. I'll never buy a fully electric car, but I'd love to see newer cars with a Tesla type screen.
My 2023 Toyota Highlander has a camera feed option for the rear view mirror. I love it and use it all the time, my husband turns it off and uses the conventional mirror.
The advantages to me are that if your car has passengers or boxes in the back, they do not impede your view. It is also wider angle than the mirror.
I don't think it's great at night (or in the rain when the camera can be blurry) but the mirror isn't that great in those conditions either.
My 2023 Toyota Highlander has a camera feed option for the rear view mirror. I love it and use it all the time, my husband turns it off and uses the conventional mirror.
The advantages to me are that if your car has passengers or boxes in the back, they do not impede your view. It is also wider angle than the mirror.
I don't think it's great at night (or in the rain when the camera can be blurry) but the mirror isn't that great in those conditions either.
My car has something it calls Augmented Reality, which is a dashboard view of the nose camera with things like arrows pointing at which street in a complicated intersection the GPS is saying to turn on. It's something, but it will have to get a lot better before I use it, for instance, it should spot pedestrians, especially at night. it spots cars and motorcycles though, but so do my regular eyes through the windshield. I think that pedestrian spotting may be a matter of liability though. "My camera didn't see you!" If it could spot a deer in a field bounding at your car at night, that would be something too.
Back window/Mirror.
When on the roadway, looking back is needed for passing on two lane roads and divided interstates. Side mirrors only, will suffice, but the look out the back window is nice. Hauling things in a pickup, often blocks the rear window. Practice is the key. Forcing yourself to learn how to use the mirrors. Parking lots is a whole different beast. Manners are non existant, and distracted drivers is off the charts. One thing I drilled into the kids when teaching them to drive was ONLY use reverse when it is impossible to go around. Even at home I back into my garage, and the better half even has gotten into the habit. Backing in is actually easier using the mirrors. Then, when driving out entering the street/road, is much safer going forward than backing into traffic. Backup cameras have to have reduced the injuries, and death of kids playing around cars.
When I ordered my new Heavy-Duty truck, one of the options offered with the myriad of towing packages and equipment, was 360° camera coverage on your big screen as well as the option to hook in a camera that perches on the back of a large travel trailer. Big Rigs have these as well, so modern drivers have the electronic capability to see virtually all around them. And yes, rear-view mirrors that are really video screens showing 'behind you' views are now available to replace the old fashioned mirror. I guess it's more entertaining than watching the road.
I didn't order any of these of course. Cars and trucks have become over-complicated in my view. Just because they make chips that can do anything doesn't mean your car ought to be doing it. Systems now want to take control of your wheel and brakes in the event you brain-fart your way into another lane, or get too close behind another vehicle, on cruise control. Criminy - hang up and drive, you fools.
Probably the bit of the equation being over looked is that this is in conjunction with collision sensors. Cameras and sensors are much better than visual alone.
Once Musk perfects full self driving you won't need to look up from your cell phone.
TIV
Yes that is something us here in IA and WS would pay for. Sensors scanning ahead looking for deer. You should get that idea protected somehow.
Just once I'd like to see an innovation that results in a cheaper auto. More electronics that can break and costs many $$$ is the inexorable trend, though, and has been for decades.
Can someone build a cheap reliable new car without power windows or locks, without a big screen on the dash, with analog gauges, and a carburetor? I know the answer, at least in this government.
"You should get that idea protected somehow."
Would never get built if I had the rights to it. But an AI application that looked for glowing eyes in the dark would be pretty good. You can't always pay attention. Last month I hit a raccoon because I was being aggressively tailgated, and watching my rear view mirror. Probably because I keep to the speed limit around dusk to avoid hitting animals. I felt bad because I generally watch the ditches for eyes constantly when driving at night. But a little "beep beep beep" when there are eyes out there would be good. And no raccoon or fox is going to sue if the system fails occasionally.
tim in vermont said...
"My car has something it calls Augmented Reality, which is a dashboard view of the nose camera with things like arrows pointing at which street in a complicated intersection the GPS is saying to turn on. It's something, but it will have to get a lot better before I use it, for instance, it should spot pedestrians, especially at night. it spots cars and motorcycles though, but so do my regular eyes through the windshield. I think that pedestrian spotting may be a matter of liability though. "My camera didn't see you!" If it could spot a deer in a field bounding at your car at night, that would be something too."
Cadillac had a front night vision camera back around 2000. Apparently it's back as an option on current vehicles. I could have used it a couple of times, once on a rainy night in the U.P. where the two lane road had trees nearly up to the roadway, and again on I-68 in WV's deer suicide zone near Morgantown.
I don't really trust the electronics. Our 2018 Honda's main touchscreen went out before it even hit 7k miles (and two months out of warranty -- hardly driven, due to covid home-working). And it controls a lot of stuff. That would have been $6k. Happily, Honda paid for it. Then a few months later the (electronic) instrument panel went out. That would have been another $1500. Happily, Honda paid for that, too.
The safety things are constantly going off. The lane departure warning is always "warning" me when the seams in the roadway verge off from the actual lane markers, or when I cut a curve on the inside.
I hate hate hate touchscreens anyway; they make basic operations more complicated and distracting. That said, even though I still primarily use mirrors, and my Forester has great visibility all around, I like the rear camera.
Every time I drive through a construction zone with narrow lanes, my car asks me if maybe I wouldn't like to take a coffee break.
My buddies Tesla X has this as an option, but it still has the rear view mirror and window. The camera view is better at night, but not in the daytime.
Post a Comment