New car styles?

[kyrielle]

On the one hand, this looks really cool. On the other? I'm very unsure about it.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=iol1029480022328H600

Even assuming the technology pans out beyond the prototype stage, I have two serious concerns with this car, and one less-serious one, so far.

First, the engine compartment in a normal car protects you somewhat in a head-on collision, absorbing some of the damage first. Getting rid of that buffer doesn't strike me as entirely desirable....

Second, the new control is (for those of us without disabilities and not used to hand controls for these things) unfamiliar. Worse than that, it's unfamiliar in ways that could be very dangerous. I wouldn't want to be on the road with someone driving one of these things, if they'd had it for less than several months. Too high a risk that they would forget how to brake the damned thing. (They might forget how to accelerate, too, but that's a lot less likely to put me in danger....)

And the minor concern: seats right on the floor SUCK if you can't sit almost-straight-legged comfortably. The seating looks, in all honestly, MISERABLE to use.

Why change the interface? What's the purpose to getting rid of the pedals? As best I can tell, it's just a gimmick - and one that, if used, will endanger a great many people, not just the ones using it.

On the one hand, it's really cool. On the other hand? I'm terrified they might actually produce it in the form they have their prototype.

And that would suck.

Comments

This is really cool!

[tigerchild.livejournal.com]

I hate standard hand controls. Maybe they've come out with better tech for those since my ex had to deal with them, but...bleah. They were such a pain in the butt to install and uninstall, it always made me a little nervous that a 'foreign' device was being used inside the vehicle. (As opposed to something integrated as a necessary part)

I kind of hope that maybe someone will come up with the idea of integrating this type of idea into a car that also has the options for standard pedals...so that families can fit the accessibility needs of all their drivers. That would rock! I also like that it at least looks like there'd be ample room to put in a chair in the back, and it'd be easy for someone to do that without assistance and there's enough space to prevent grease from the wheel axles from getting all over the upholstery (the back of my poor Civic was just trashed within a year of hauling a Quickie around.) But then again, car manufacturers are driven by what sells, so I bet this will just remain a neato item rather than being something that could enhance things for the relatively slim market of folks who use hand controls.

Thanks for the link, though! I think I'm going to pass it on to some of my friends. Maybe with a little encouragement, they'll think about incorporating it into accessability for ALL their vehicles. :)

Re: This is really cool!

[kyrielle]

As an option, those hand controls might be nice. As long as people who are not used to, and do not need, them can get the "usual" controls. There also needs to be a way to get a mixed car where it can be set back and forth between which is being used, for those occasions when someone not accustomed to the hand controls needs to drive a vehicle which is normally used by someone who must (or chooses to) use them.

I just shudder to think of the safety issues of having only hand controls in a car, when most of us are not accustomed to them. I remember running into a fence the first time I used a bike with hand brakes, because in the instant I could have stopped, I was frantically spinning the pedals backward, having grown used to the (much easier to use!) foot brakes.

I'd hate to do that with a car. Or be anywhere around when someone else did it.