Ford Safe & Smart Package - What are your Thougths

[Mr. Met]

I guess that's just mirror checking discipline on my part. Most people drive with their side mirrors in way too far. I set my side mirrors so that as a vehicle in an adjacent lane leaves the centre mirror it appears in the side mirror. By the time it is leaving the side mirror it is already far enough up my side that I see it in my peripheral vision. If you don't set your mirrors like this, try it and see just how much extra vision your mirrors provide you with. I will agree, though, that the BLIS probably helps when you're on a major multi lane highway and someone comes in at you from a third lane. A shoulder check should pick that up if your mirrors don't.

I absolutely agree with that. In the Mustang you can adjust your mirrors so you can always see a car in till it is literally right next to you. Till the legal liability aspect gets figured out I would never solely rely on blis, I think of it more as redundancy. I would think that's why the lights are in the mirror. You are still supposed to check your mirrors, but it may save someone from hitting a car they didn't see coming.

I drove a kia k900 which has cameras in the mirrors. Its an amazing system that shows everything next to you in the gauge cluster when you use your turn signal. I really hope ford is developing a similar system. I understand its not a new idea but I think the way it was implemented is a game changer.

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[Norm Peterson]

I drove a kia k900 which has cameras in the mirrors. Its an amazing system that shows everything next to you in the gauge cluster when you use your turn signal. I really hope ford is developing a similar system. I understand its not a new idea but I think the way it was implemented is a game changer.

Don't think down in the instrument panel is a good place at all to be looking when you're actively contemplating a lane change or other maneuver out of a straight line. Heads up, eyes out the windshield with a glance to the side mirror only, please.

Throwing a temporary indication up on a heads-up display when you use your turn signal - if there's anything close enough to be of any concern - would probably be a better approach.


Norm

 

[brucelinc]

I would think that anyone who doesn't like adaptive cruise control would also not like regular cruise control. Both are convenience features, although ACC is far MORE convenient since it is not necessary to continually touch the brake in traffic to disengage and then "resume" to gain speed again when traffic clears. ACC does that for you. Additionally, if one is distracted (which one should not be) and a car ahead quickly slows, ACC will "see" it and slow you down. In that regard, it is a safety feature as well.

After having ACC, I would never be without it again. Regular Cruise seems very crude and old fashioned in comparison.

 

[Johnnybee]

After having ACC, I would never be without it again. Regular Cruise seems very crude and old fashioned in comparison.

Yep, the "regular" cruise in my wife's Rogue drives me crazy now. I only use it going up north, in light traffic, whereas the Mustang's can be used anytime, virtually any traffic conditions, although I wish they gave it a bit more leeway on lifting the throttle and coasting back to the set distance when a car comes in between you and the one the ACC had been following. I find the ACC generally throws out the anchor to get back to the chosen space as quickly as possible.

 

[Mr. Met]

Don't think down in the instrument panel is a good place at all to be looking when you're actively contemplating a lane change or other maneuver out of a straight line. Heads up, eyes out the windshield with a glance to the side mirror only, please.

Throwing a temporary indication up on a heads-up display when you use your turn signal - if there's anything close enough to be of any concern - would probably be a better approach.


Norm

When it comes to these features I always saw to each their own but I dont understand this comment. No one said you should stare at it like you are watching a movie. People have been looking at their side mirrors and over their shoulder for 100 years, that's safer then a quick glance at a screen right in front of you that shows everything next to you? I wonder how you check you speed without a HUD then.

If anyone is interested in seeing it in use.

 

[Linkster1666]

I like that the light on the mirror lights up, one glance and I know if I need to floor it or not. ;-)

 

[Norm Peterson]

When it comes to these features I always saw to each their own but I dont understand this comment. No one said you should stare at it like you are watching a movie. People have been looking at their side mirrors and over their shoulder for 100 years, that's safer then a quick glance at a screen right in front of you that shows everything next to you? I wonder how you check you speed without a HUD then.

I agree - we all should be capable of checking our cars' mirrors. I don't like the idea of being encouraged to look down at the IP right when you're about to make a maneuver that could affect those around you.

I wouldn't want this display constantly shown in a HUD either, but a momentary flash or two and a second or so of some indication that "hey, something's already in the space you're about to steer into" would at least have value for the non-mirror-checkers without the downside of having to look at something that's inside the car.

Using the IP for speed checking and similar brief functions is normally done when one is driving straight ahead with little else going on.


Norm

 

[brucelinc]

Glancing at a speed number or other simple message in the instrument cluster is much different than looking at and making a quick judgement based on a camera image.

I prefer having the mirrors adjusted as others have stated combined with BLIS. I find that to be quite effective and least unnecessarily distracting.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I would think that anyone who doesn't like adaptive cruise control would also not like regular cruise control.

I don't doubt that at all. Though I do suspect that after driving with only regular CC it takes a while to fully trust the ACC to do the appropriate amounts of deceleration.

But either level of convenience distances you from at least one of the little nitty-gritty tasks involved with driving, and I'm not seeing this kind of convenience - basically the ability to step away from the physical operation of your car - as being a good thing.

I get that CC or ACC could be of value in regions where speed enforcement is heavy and harsh, but that's really an exception with a very specific reason.


Norm

 

[Mr. Met]

I agree - we all should be capable of checking our cars' mirrors. I don't like the idea of being encouraged to look down at the IP right when you're about to make a maneuver that could affect those around you.

I wouldn't want this display constantly shown in a HUD either, but a momentary flash or two and a second or so of some indication that "hey, something's already in the space you're about to steer into" would at least have value for the non-mirror-checkers without the downside of having to look at something that's inside the car.

Using the IP for speed checking and similar brief functions is normally done when one is driving straight ahead with little else going on.


Norm

I dont think we are going to get anywhere with this so lets just agree to disagree. When I drove the car I found it a useful feature. I dont think you have to worry about it being in a Mustang for many years though.

 

[AnalogDan]

I'm always skeptical of new tech (see username), but I love it. I daily my GT and take it on road trips, and highway driving is much nicer with lane keep assist, ACC, and blind spot monitoring.

I wouldn't go back to a car without it.

I love them so much that I convinced my retired mother to upgrade her Ford Edge to a Lincoln Nautilus with these features since she does so much highway driving. Hers has everything in the S&S package, plus proper lane centering. The car practically drives itself on freeways. She loves it too.

 

[brucelinc]

I don't doubt that at all. Though I do suspect that after driving with only regular CC it takes a while to fully trust the ACC to do the appropriate amounts of deceleration.

But either level of convenience distances you from at least one of the little nitty-gritty tasks involved with driving, and I'm not seeing this kind of convenience - basically the ability to step away from the physical operation of your car - as being a good thing.

I get that CC or ACC could be of value in regions where speed enforcement is heavy and harsh, but that's really an exception with a very specific reason.


Norm

I primarily use it on limited access Interstate highways. You make a good point. If I do not set cruise, I often find myself running well over the posted limit. I do not use it in heavily trafficked city freeways and rarely use it on 2 lane roads.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I dont think we are going to get anywhere with this so lets just agree to disagree. When I drove the car I found it a useful feature. I dont think you have to worry about it being in a Mustang for many years though.

What I think is that it could be even more useful (and safer, to boot) if they'd put an indication up in an HUD. I'm not trying to suggest that it's a bad idea, only that it might not be quite fully developed, meaning beyond just its technical aspects, yet. I'm seeing that one aspect where there's room for improvement.

I suppose you could leave the full display down in the IP along with the HUD indication, I just don't agree that having only an IP display is quite the right way to go about this.


Norm

 

[MaskedRacerX]

I dont think we are going to get anywhere with this so lets just agree to disagree. When I drove the car I found it a useful feature.

I'm sure the millions spent by Kia on biological analytics and heuristics, , PhD subject matter experts in behavioral response, etc., has no impact on their engineering design decisions ...

 

[brucelinc]

I love tech that improves convenience, safety, performance, etc. However, I do not like HUD at all. I have experienced it in GM vehicles, BMWs and Lincolns. I find it as distracting as having a dirty windshield.

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