Reduced to Being a Copilot
reverendhornibastard
Depraved Deacon of Degeneracy
Yesterday we picked up our new sled. It’s a 2021 Mercedes GLE 350.
It is an iridescent deep metallic green color. Depending on the sun angle and the sky conditions it can appear anywhere from almost black to a deep, emerald green.
My kids are wild about a car that seems to change color as you walk around it.
I fully expected it to be a fancy car, but I was astounded as we drove home. I had already paired my phone to the car and, shortly after we pulled out of the dealership I said, “Hey Mercedes, navigate to home.”
The car immediately responded, “OK, going home” and mostly handled the trip all the way back to our garage with scant intervention on my part.
I was effectively reduced to copilot status.
The car stayed within lanes, rounded curves and adjusted speed when we got behind a slowpoke driver. It even adjusted speeds as we entered and exited different speed limit zones.
I only intervened twice. Once when we drove through a road resurfacing area where the lanes were not well marked and the car seemed confused about where the lanes were. Then I intervened again when the car suddenly reduced speed dramatically as we entered a school zone. The car evidently never received the memo explaining that schools are not in session at 5 PM on a Saturday.
My kids went bananas watching the steering wheel rotating back and forth all by itself on the drive home.
There are probably lots of cars on the road now that can do all these things, but I never had one before.
My auto insurance rates should go down.
My new car will never get tired or distracted (it doesn’t have a love muscle for Mrs. Hornibastard to fondle and tease on long trips while the kids are asleep in the back seats). It will never get mad at another driver and respond by driving aggressively.
It is an iridescent deep metallic green color. Depending on the sun angle and the sky conditions it can appear anywhere from almost black to a deep, emerald green.
My kids are wild about a car that seems to change color as you walk around it.
I fully expected it to be a fancy car, but I was astounded as we drove home. I had already paired my phone to the car and, shortly after we pulled out of the dealership I said, “Hey Mercedes, navigate to home.”
The car immediately responded, “OK, going home” and mostly handled the trip all the way back to our garage with scant intervention on my part.
I was effectively reduced to copilot status.
The car stayed within lanes, rounded curves and adjusted speed when we got behind a slowpoke driver. It even adjusted speeds as we entered and exited different speed limit zones.
I only intervened twice. Once when we drove through a road resurfacing area where the lanes were not well marked and the car seemed confused about where the lanes were. Then I intervened again when the car suddenly reduced speed dramatically as we entered a school zone. The car evidently never received the memo explaining that schools are not in session at 5 PM on a Saturday.
My kids went bananas watching the steering wheel rotating back and forth all by itself on the drive home.
There are probably lots of cars on the road now that can do all these things, but I never had one before.
My auto insurance rates should go down.
My new car will never get tired or distracted (it doesn’t have a love muscle for Mrs. Hornibastard to fondle and tease on long trips while the kids are asleep in the back seats). It will never get mad at another driver and respond by driving aggressively.
Got something to say?
Start your own discussion
38 comments
Lastly, am I correctly understanding that your new car is fully automated from, say, the local grocery store to your residence ? One car I was considering getting as a late model pre-owned, the Cadillac CT6 only has that automated capability on major interstates, and metro loops/beltways. (2018 and later option, I think).
The speed limit monitoring works on major roads as well as on backstreets and in my neighborhood. Based on the car’s behavior it seems to visually read the speed limit signs. The speed adjustments are perfectly coincident with.when we pass a speed limit sign.
As I was exploring and fiddling with the settings this morning in my driveway one of the options was whether or not I wanted the car to read traffic lights.
I don’t know yet if that really works much less if I would trust it.
https://tuscl.net/photo.php?id=59
This car is a chick magnet. Or it would be if I were under 60-years-old.
https://tuscl.net/photos.php
lol
Lol - good point. Every so often I see a story about a car thief who gives up because he can't drive stick. Too funny.
I agree that it’ll be a long time before self driving cars or as good as a human driver at his or her best.
However, most human drivers are often not at their best when they are behind the wheel.
A self driving car will never get drunk, be distracted, sleepy, or angry.
I don’t think we’re very far away from the day when self driving cars will have a better overall driving record than humans.
I already received my adjusted insurance statement covering my new car.
I’m getting a partial refund on my prepaid insurance premiums.
Even though I have an impeccable driving record, my insurance company evidently thinks I will be even safer behind the wheel with this new car that kinda-sorta drives itself.
Wish you the best of luck with it. However, I doubt your insurance company thinks "you" will be safer. In their world it's all about overall statistics. There are lots of terrible drivers out there that probably should be banned from getting behind the wheel forever, but they're still causing mayhem on the roads. Those morons may be better off with this technology, statistically speaking. On the other hand, careful, sensible drivers like you and me are unlikely to have an accident that's our fault, and at least somewhat less likely to be a victim of careless drivers. I feel like I have a sixth sense about bad or impaired drivers and I do whatever necessary to put distance between us, especially when I'm on a motorcycle. Bottom line is insurance companies don't care about "you" or "me" they only care about the statistical reduction of claim pay-outs. A few good drivers getting banged up because of malfunctioning technology doesn't mean shit if their overall costs are reduced. No thank you. I'll put my trust in myself rather than statistics.
I'm all for features that may compensate for certain driver faults, like warnings of slowed traffic ahead, sensors that detect whether the driver is falling asleep, blind spot warnings, etc. But I have to draw the line at cars that actually take over the driving.
For now. People said the same thing about antilock brakes 30 years ago. All the Road and Track readers believed they could outperform the computer. It’s technology. It’ll keep getting better, and at an exponential rate.
... and as a bonus, strippers.
Every time someone tells me about the self driving features in their car, they sound completely fascinated.
Did you purchase the Benz, or was it a lease?
I've always had "practical cars" that are easy/cheap to fix; and I tend to keep my cars a good # of years - today's cars are very complex and likely much more expensive to fix, and why I'd personally be hesitant to own one out-of-warranty and why if I got a nice (expensive) car I was thinking a lease would work for me in the sense that I don't wanna get stuck with an expensive-to-fix out-of-warranty car.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfmAG4dk…
The funniest part of it is that even after two wrecks, no one stops until they physically can't maneuver around. It's like they're ALL on auto-pilot and the computer has no feelings for injured people! Lol
Pics and Vids or it didn’t happen.
:D
I’m getting a refund on my prepaid annual insurance bill. My premiums are lower than they were when I still had my 2013 Mercedes.
My old and new Mercedes are very similar in size, weight, engine, body style and price. The biggest differences relate to the safety features.
At this point I’m sure the safety features of the new model account for the lower insurance premiums.
@shadowcat- Good for you, screw Geico and their annoyingly obtrusive ads.
Yeah, but those features make it inevitable that drivers WON'T be monitoring as closely as if they were fully driving the car. Plus even if they are, they are now in a reactive position if the computer or sensors fail and make a sudden unexpected lane shift.