"Improvements" to road vehicles which have arguably made things worse?

[Bald Rick]

If an accident and engine disabled / start locked out or breakdown presumably can not release the handbrake to move the car at least right to the side of the road if not off onto verge.

If there’s power in the battery, and the cable to it is functioning, the brake will come off without the key.

 

[MoominAndChips]

Another vote for touch screens. I've said it for years: Less Apple, more Fisher-Price.

Bouncing along what passes for an A road in north-western Scotland, I had to put my then-girlfriend in charge of things like temperature control. A car should not need a copilot!

An arguable or controversial one could be keyless locks & ignition. Undoubtedly a convenience when entering and starting the car, but inconvenient that I need to store keys in a Faraday Pouch when not in use to hopefully prevent the car from being stolen.

During Covid, our local Avis set up a contactless rental system, which involved hooking a lockbox over the driver's side window and texting you the code once you'd digitally signed the rental agreement. The key was quite happy to talk to the car through the lockbox, meaning that the door unlocked as soon as you tried it and the engine started when you pushed the button - all without ever opening the lockbox. I unwound the window, threw the lockbox in the passenger footwell, and drove 200km, all without even seeing the key.

The "Oh. Shiiiiiiii...." when I phoned them was one for the ages.

 

[dcbwhaley]

dangie said:
An arguable or controversial one could be keyless locks & ignition. Undoubtedly a convenience when entering and starting the car, but inconvenient that I need to store keys in a Faraday Pouch when not in use to hopefully prevent the car from being stolen.

If the ignition is keyless which keys do you store in the Faraday pouch?

 

[edwin_m]

If you thought touch screens couldn't get any worse...

Stellantis Introduces Pop-Up Ads in Vehicles, Sparking Outrage Among Owners - TechStory

Car technology is supposed to make driving safer, smoother, and more enjoyable. But Stellantis, the parent company of Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, and Ram, seems to have taken a different approach—one that prioritizes ad revenue over user experience. You might also like Which Drivers Are Better Suited...

techstory.in

In a move that has left drivers both frustrated and bewildered, Stellantis has introduced full-screen pop-up ads on its infotainment systems. Specifically, Jeep owners have reported being bombarded with advertisements for Mopar’s extended warranty service. The kicker? These ads appear every time the vehicle comes to a stop.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If you thought touch screens couldn't get any worse...

Stellantis Introduces Pop-Up Ads in Vehicles, Sparking Outrage Among Owners - TechStory

Car technology is supposed to make driving safer, smoother, and more enjoyable. But Stellantis, the parent company of Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, and Ram, seems to have taken a different approach—one that prioritizes ad revenue over user experience. You might also like Which Drivers Are Better Suited...

techstory.in

It does strike me that in just about every way possible Stellantis seem to be trying hard to ensure there is no European car industry at all in 20 years' time. From cars made of tin foil to excessive pricing and now this.

 

[nlogax]

+1 for touchscreens. Really don't mind them for infotainment as long as there's an actual volume dial or iDrive-like jogwheel but for HVAC and the like please give me physical controls.

 

[styles]

dangie said:
An arguable or controversial one could be keyless locks & ignition. Undoubtedly a convenience when entering and starting the car, but inconvenient that I need to store keys in a Faraday Pouch when not in use to hopefully prevent the car from being stolen.

If the ignition is keyless which keys do you store in the Faraday pouch?

Yeah I find this absolutely bonkers. What's the real convenience factor here - not having to double press a button from your pocket? Even if my hands were full, unless the doors/boot also open (as opposed to merely unlock) automatically, I'm still going to have to put my stuff down to get inside. I get the whole not needing a physical key, and using buttons on a fob instead, but the whole proximity-based unlocking and ignition I just think is absurd. And if you have to carry it in a Faraday pouch, the convenience of not having to touch your key is lost, because you have to take it out of the pouch, at which point you could've just pressed a button instead.

Thankfully I'm running a Mk4 Mondeo until it becomes uneconomical, so it's a while before I need to start carrying a Faraday pouch. The only maintenance it needs is a new handbrake cable (my job for Saturday).

 

[Harpo]

It’s not just the Faraday pouch faff, it’s unlocking, removing and storing the steering wheel lock that keyless theft has made necessary. (Have I mentioned how annoying the mk8 Golf is?)

VW’s saved £20 and one kilo with its poxy little bonnet stick and I’ve spent £80 and got a three kilo lock.

 

[birchesgreen]

Yeah I find this absolutely bonkers. What's the real convenience factor here - not having to double press a button from your pocket? Even if my hands were full, unless the doors/boot also open (as opposed to merely unlock) automatically, I'm still going to have to put my stuff down to get inside. I get the whole not needing a physical key, and using buttons on a fob instead, but the whole proximity-based unlocking and ignition I just think is absurd. And if you have to carry it in a Faraday pouch, the convenience of not having to touch your key is lost, because you have to take it out of the pouch, at which point you could've just pressed a button instead.

Yes it can be annoying, like when you go outside into the garden or for a walk, forget you still have the fob in your pocket and unlock the car!

 

[The exile]

I think the yellow colour was in response to lobbying by the "right to drive as fast as I like" brigade a few years back, rather than any scientific evaluation of the risks and benefits.

Mobile camera vans could be anywhere, but tend to be pretty visible.

German fixed cameras are often hidden behind trees and mobile ones in unmarked cars (though usually always the same one…!). Detector equipment in your car is illegal.

 

[Meerkat]

Yeah I find this absolutely bonkers. What's the real convenience factor here - not having to double press a button from your pocket?

Even if my hands were full, unless the doors/boot also open (as opposed to merely unlock) automatically, I'm still going to have to put my stuff down to get inside

It’s quicker not to have to rummage in your pocket, particularly if you are wearing a coat.
Quite a few things that you can carry and still open the door that you couldn’t hold whilst rummaging.
And if you are carrying stuff what do you do with the key whilst you put the stuff in the car - in and out the pocket again.
Getting out you Don’t have to open and shut the door whilst holding your keys.
You don’t end up with scuffs on the door from trying to find the keyhole in the dark.
It’s all round much better, they just need an off button for when you are in the house at night.

The only issue I have had is forgetting to push the off button occasionally - filled the car up with the engine running once, not realising until I tried to confirm I had locked it before going off to pay.

 

[dcbwhaley]

. I get the whole not needing a physical key, and using buttons on a fob instead, but the whole proximity-based unlocking and ignition I just think is absurd.

But the fob is a physical key.
It is a key because it opens a lock and it is physical because it has a corporeal body.

A keyless lock is an oxymoron. Even a combination lock has a key: the number of the combination.

 

[styles]

German fixed cameras are often hidden behind trees and mobile ones in unmarked cars (though usually always the same one…!). Detector equipment in your car is illegal.

I'm honestly amazed the number of people who get caught speeding by fixed cameras in the UK. They're bright yellow (or sometimes yellow and red striped in Scotland), in plain view, with warning signs posted well in advance, recorded in Waze/Google Maps/etc. Not to mention that most police forces have a 10%+2mph enforcement threshold for fixed cameras, and that car speedometers over-estimate the car's speed (as, by law, they can't underestimate it).

To get caught so many times that you lose your licence to totting up is imo the sign of a totally inattentive driver if nothing else.

 

[Bikeman78]

Normally, I would have released the hand brake and rolled back a few feet. Instead I had to accelerate in reverse, on a steep bend.

Thankfully I can manually release the parking brake by pressing down the clutch and then pushing down on the parking brake button. It won't release with the engine switched off though.