http://www.mgenthusiast.com MGE AUGUST 2019^27
system marking cars down that do
not have such features and enough
airbags to encase you like a soft fruit
if activated. The MG ZS is a good
example of a current model being
given a lower star rating because of
the absence of such technology. The
soon-to-be-available ZS EV
addresses some of those concerns,
with a raft of additional safety
technologies, and that, we would
hope, would follow in petrol models.
Where I feel there is a problem
with technology is with the growing
integration of cars within the digital
world, just like the ‘smart’ phone.
Look at the difficulties that arise with
phones and their use when driving.
The more a car becomes a glorified
smart phone surely it will just
present too much of a temptation for
many to play whilst driving, unless
that technology becomes smart
enough to disconnect some aspects
when the vehicle is on the move.
Trouble here is that technology has
left legislation in the relative Stone
Age so any sensible control will have
to be done by the technology, simply
because so many humans can’t be
trusted. Even if we restrict displayed
information to just vehicle functions
we now have so many different pages
of data, with lots of driver-selectable
options, it all generates the
fundamental problem of creating
distraction from the primary function
of a driver, which is driving!
Not that this irresponsible
approach to driving is anything new
as, in my unmarked motorway patrol
car days, seeing drivers doing things
other than driving responsibly was
nothing unusual, and without a
phone in sight. Pouring a hot drink
from a flask held in one hand, into a
cup in the other, with neither hand
on the steering wheel was not an
unusual sight. One driver, I
remember, used some sticky-backed
Velcro, stuck to the airbag cover ofthe steering wheel, to attach the
cover of a book so it could be read
whilst the car was being driven. Not
a map or route instructions, I hasten
to add, but a romantic novel!
So, is having more and more
technology in cars a problem? I
would say no, as the problem lies
with the users of the technology, just
in the same way that most roads are
never dangerous as they are inert. It
is how people use the roads that
makes them dangerous. This means
that you have to educate and change
the way people use roads, or modify
the roads to suit the way that people
are using them. The same approach
also has to apply to technology in
cars, and of course, we also have to
remember that adding new
technology attracts more interest
and sells more cars. RPABOVE: This tyre pressure monitoring display, as part of a current MG3 system
display, provides instant and very useful information as well as an alert if there
is a sudden loss in tyre pressure. (Note that the higher temperatures on the
driver’s side are because that side of the car has been sitting in the sun.)
ABOVE: Automatic reversing camera view, with distance information guidelines,
is rather useful – that is of course until raindrops obstruct the camera lens!THE MORE A CAR
BECOMES A GLORIFIED
SMART PHONE SURELY
IT WILL JUST PRESENT
TOO MUCH OF A
TEMPTATION...