ADAS - Driver Training Needed

I feel one should have to learn on a vehicle that all these gadgets have been turned off. I want to know the person I am meeting knows how to handle the vehicle.

In the article it mentions passenger feedback. Again something I have posted on previously. After so many applications there should be a little voice that speaks up and says something along the lines if it wasn't for these applications you would be dead.

Back-up cameras. People should be trained to drive and how to position their vehicle properly. There is no excuse for anyone to back out of their driveways. It has been known for years the safest way to exit a driveway is driving forward. Why is it driving instructors have never taught their students to back into parking spots and driveways? Maybe now that they have figured out you can't cater to the LCD amongst us safety instructors and driving examiners will check that new drivers know to back in.

One final comment friend just drove his new car home yesterday and noticed when he had to pull over the fog line to give a semi room that the steering became tight. Won't say it could have caused an accident but a situation where lane departure warning could be a hindrance.

Driving Instructors do teach back in parking. I always park that way and have always taught that way as I know other instructors do as well. The problem is most drivers don't seem to care, they seem to think it's quicker to drive in and do so with out any thought as to how they will leave. I even emphasize to friends and family I ride with that it is safer to back into their own driveway as they are always backing in to the known and when they back out they are backing into the unknown, it doesn't matter to them, they continue to drive in.

It is always easier to stop traffic to back out of it than it is to stop traffic to back into it, it doesn't seem to matter to most drivers. Driving without planning ahead seems to be the norm and very hard to relearn something better and safer.

Backing is difficult or uncomfortable for many and they never do it voluntarily, they only back when they have no other option or give themselves no other option.

Backing cameras are another safety feature that makes us stupid and think we can rely heavily on this new safety device and not have to think for ourselves. Everytime a new safety device or feature gets added to our daily lives we seem to think less for ourselves and trust the technology instead of thinking for ourselves and using the new technology to assist us only,  we seem to let our skills slide. A good driver can always drive better than the technology, it's very unfortunate that there are very few good drivers left as we keep relying too much on the technology instead us using it as an assistant.

One final comment friend just drove his new car home yesterday and noticed when he had to pull over the fog line to give a semi room that the steering became tight. Won't say it could have caused an accident but a situation where lane departure warning could be a hindrance.

I first heard of this recalcitrant 'car behaviour' from my brother in law, a couple years ago. As it happens, we were in Sedona Az, where he had rented a brand new Jeep Cherokee and I had rented the first ever hybrid I ever drove, a Ford Focus I think it was. After chatting with him over a beer, I was able to figure out his problem; failure to signal prior to lane changing, which his vehicle was unwilling to do. Kinda funny/ironic, when the car you're piloting insists on being driven properly. Obviously, the system can be immediately overcome by the driver (similarly to losing your power steering pump, or your power brake booster - you still have steering and brakes, but you gotta work harder to control the vehicle).

Meanwhile, when reversing my car into the parking garage where we were staying, the backup camera and warning system in my Ford was oblivious to the 2' wide shelf along the back wall, and would have allowed me to reverse until the rear window collided with it. Fortunately, I don't use the braille method of driving (and have never been confident using backup cameras) - but do you notice, all rental vehicles come with them these days, so they're definitely a potential safety device.

Driving Instructors do teach back in parking. I always park that way and have always taught that way as I know other instructors do as well.

Absolutely, and giving credit where it's due, we can thank ICBC for revamping the Road Test requirements. When I was working for them as a Driver Examiner '97 - '99, applicants were allowed to drive nose in to parking spaces (so the only reversing 'challenges' were parallel parking to a single car in the middle of the block, and reversing in a straight line for a few car lengths). It was rare for applicants to plan properly for their test commencement by parking backwards before going into the license office to get processed; and incredibly rare for the applicant to elect to reverse into one of those stalls at the conclusion of the test.

The fact is, a Driving Instructor will always have to realize that if their students are not successful, then neither are they. Or their DTS, whatever. But meanwhile, a good Driving Instructor will always be trying to pass on their own knowledge and advice, regardless of any testing standards, actively trying to make their students successful not just as license applicants, but as drivers in the future making their own decisions once licensed. This should not be a conundrum, there cannot be a contradiction between 'test standards' and reality.

These days, observing driver behaviour in the ICBC parking lots, it amazes me how poorly most Driving Instructors have trained their students; time and again, they try to stop in the middle of the parking lot, then make some stupid right-angled reversing turn into the slot they hope to leave their car in. No professional driver would use that sort of technique, there would be far more planning and preliminary maneuvering to minimize the difficulty and hazards around them.

Thankfully (to the best of my knowledge, as all I teach these days is Class 4 Unrestricted), ICBC don't allow the use of back-up cameras when conducting professional tests. They expect the applicant to be able to do this whilst using normal forward and peripheral vision along with the side mirrors.

It is always easier to stop traffic to back out of it than it is to stop traffic to back into it, it doesn't seem to matter to most drivers. Driving without planning ahead seems to be the norm and very hard to relearn something better and safer.

Backing is difficult or uncomfortable for many and they never do it voluntarily, they only back when they have no other option or give themselves no other option.

Good observation (so to speak, I didn't intend a play on words there).

But I'll also share this thought. When teaching drivers, and endeavouring always to improve their skills, I will often remark that normally, a driver won't get into a collision with what they've already seen. It will be with what they failed to see, or look out for. And with ADAS, or mirrors, it's the driver or pedestrian or building that you haven't seen or anticipated that will be the other participant in the crash.