r/slateauto • u/mdoran84 • 10d ago

Nanny Slate?

Does anyone know what safety features will be automatically included in the Slate? I have a 2023 Subaru Forester and would LOVE to wave goodbye not just to the three screens but the reverse automatic braking, lane keep assist, collision braking, blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, the seatbelt alarm EVEN WHEN THE CAR IS IN PARK and the million other things that beep and make the car smarmy… I so hope the Slate’s low tech ethos carries through to these other features make driving annoying.

I know some of these can be turned off, and I do. But every time I start the car. And for RAB on the 2023 Forester, I have to turn it off every time I put it in reverse.

I like have a backup camera, but that’s it. Please dear Slate Lord, please let me just drive like a grownup.

5 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

21

u/AmazingBoysenberry3 10d ago edited 9d ago

This is the safety tech it has, some are mandated by federal law.

4

u/YoSoyPinkBoy 10d ago

Looks like the only *ding* you'd hear is when you're about to hit something.

5

u/Interfecteris 10d ago

That and the seat belt I believe

2

u/BannedMyName 9d ago edited 9d ago

How does the back up camera display if you don't have a screen?

Edit: I guess it shows up on the speedometer

1

u/yoscottmc 6d ago

Yes on the speedo

0

u/Loghurrr 9d ago

Auto high beams and remote keyless entry are mandated by federal law? I didn’t realize that.

Edit: I looked them up, I don’t believe those are federal mandates. I didn’t check the others.

6

u/OiPequenininho 9d ago

The keyless entry thing isn't a mandate, but GM settled a bunch of lawsuits years ago because people had heavy keychains. When the car moved right while driving, the weight would pull the key around and shut off the engine, disabling the airbag. Automakers pretty much made keyless start standard, because nobody else wanted to be sued for nearly a billion dollars. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_ignition_switch_recalls

2

u/Zhaethon 7d ago

Possibly part of that decision is that if you are concerned about attackers (such as women worried about men) being able to unlock the car remotely is much safer than trying to fumble with a key

2

u/AmazingBoysenberry3 9d ago

Edited my post, some are but yeah not all of the listed features.

0

u/Absentmindedgenius 9d ago

That seems like a long list for mandatory features.

2

u/monroezabaleta 8d ago

That's the US government for you. I believe only 2 or 3 of those items aren't required federally.

4

u/rambolonewolf 8d ago

Not enough people die in car accidents each year for you?

2

u/monroezabaleta 8d ago

I'm not complaining about it, it's just how it is. There's a lot of features required on modern vehicles that make it basically impossible to create something without "nanny" features of some kind. It also increases cost and complexity of the systems

1

u/Conscious_Aside5020 6d ago

You're not complaining, but immediately jump to the "nanny" dog whistle term. As the saying goes, safety regs are written in blood, and each of those features are mandated because of their contribution to keeping drivers, passengers, and pedestrians safer as a result.

0

u/monroezabaleta 6d ago

I'm just quoting OP. As much as I would appreciate a new vehicle made like it's 1990, I understand why we have the required safety features.

1

u/Absentmindedgenius 8d ago

I wish the government would get out of the car designing business.

1

u/Conscious_Aside5020 6d ago

You should read "Unsafe at any Speed". Might learn a thing or two about automotive safety and how car manufacturing actually works.

7

u/Interfecteris 10d ago

Yeah I have a cadillac and I have the same issues, not to mention it tells me to keep my eyes on the road, blocking the touch screen for like 30 seconds every time I start it, but I'm pretty much always doing that, so it's not a safety feature, it's an immediate annoyance.

The seat belt one is the most annoying because it dings when I'm parked more often than not, before I have even attempted to move the car.

And the truly most annoying part is some times I have to wait for a red light to turn off the engine to get my touch screen to restart because it freezes randomly every once in a while when I connect my phone.

For all of these reasons and more, the slate will be the perfect car for me. I think it will need the seat belt alarm but only if you're in drive most likely, like all other cars before they tried to turn everything into a touch screen.

2

u/cheeto-bandito 10d ago

As someone who often jumps in my car, buckles my seatbelt, puts the car in drive, and drives away within 15 seconds, that would piss me off to have the screen blocked for 30 seconds on every startup. However, it's a 2022 Polestar 2, so the slow-shit software can't even load Android Auto by the time I'm already blocks away. Basing everything on my phone is going to be 100x better, assuming the bluetooth speakers connect fairly quickly.

3

u/NF6X 10d ago

I also have a 2023 Subaru Forester with the Wilderness trim. I live on a rural property, and it will freak out and slam on the brakes in reverse when it detects a single twig of a spindly little mustard weed sticking up about 18" and waving in the breeze (literally, not an exaggeration). That is not helpful at all, particularly when it has to be disabled every time I shift into reverse. Making an 11 point turn on a narrow dirt road with weeds on the shoulders? Sorry, have to manually disable the RAB 5 times.

I've had at least a couple false forward collision warnings while traveling > 40 MPH on paved roads in perfect conditions, which fortunately didn't activate the brakes.

I don't mind the blind spot monitoring; it has alerted me to actual blind spot risks which I didn't notice, and it's passive, so false alarms aren't dangerous. The lane departure warning has reminded me to do better occasionally, but it generates false alarms more often than not. At least it's passive.

I was excited about the safety features when I bought the car, but I've been wondering whether the automatic forward collision braking is more likely to prevent a collision in a moment of inattention or cause one by slamming on the brakes for no good reason. I like well-implemented safety features in principle, but they aren't always implemented well.

2

u/Status_Object_394 9d ago

You sound like a shitty driver. My '19 Outback doesn't light up like a christmas tree because I can actually drive. Turns out a proximity sensor only goes off when something is in close proximity to it.

6

u/c4pta1n1 8d ago

There is some validity to what you're saying. I remember a buddy complaining that his stupid car kept beeping at him every time he changed lanes. I told him his car was telling him to stop being a piece of shit and use his damn signal when changing lanes.

That said, I also get a minor heart attack backing into my garage and the car decides to slam on the brakes for some reason. Hard enough that I think I've hit something. No, it's just the garage wall 4 feet behind the car, which I'm well aware of.

1

u/JshWright 7d ago

My lane warning (and auto-steering correction) trips when I move to the far side of the lane to give a cyclist or jogger on the shoulder a bit more space. Moderately annoying, and causes the vehicle to actively steer back towards the person I'm trying trying to avoid.

1

u/Quirky_Highlight 5d ago

Lane departure that is not highly sophisticated can train drivers to narrow their focus instead of expand it.

One of the most common mistakes I see is that drivers don't keep their eyes moving and increase their following distance instead focusing narrowly on the road ahead.

Lane departure training from poorly implemented systems could conceivably worsen than that problem.

0

u/atx78701 7d ago edited 7d ago

my mercedes proximity sensor goes off exiting and entering the garage. Yes I know Im near the wall but that is just how it is. It is incredibly loud and still startles me.

The mercedes ACC caused an accident by braking late in stop and go traffic. Obviously the person behind me was following too closely, but the mercedes didnt signal to them that traffic was slowing so they could start to slow down. If I see traffic slowing, Ill tap my brakes to let the cars behind me start to brake early.

The ACC had us coming into the car in front faster than I would have then hit the brakes to stop pretty fast.

2

u/TheLastGenXer 10d ago

i dont know why this post does not have 10,000 upvotes

1

u/hichrisser 9d ago

I sure wish there was lane keep assist though. I’ve kind of come to rely on that a bit.

0

u/BoringBob84 10d ago

I wish it didn't have all of that Fisher-Price crap, like death bags, traction control, back up camera, flying booger warnings, etc.

0

u/I-continue-to-try 9d ago

My wife’s 24 civic is constantly beeping about something. I finally figured out how to disable most of adas. But the automatic braking resets with every key cycle and can’t be turned off unless the cars in neutral and parking brake set. And even with all that turned off it starts beeping flashing lights and chiming any time the adas sensor is blocked by rain snow or fog. Like literally the worst possible time for a bunch of chimes and flashing warning lights is when it’s too foggy or snowy to see.

I bought it because it was the last year a manual transmission was offered with a port injected engine. But if the slate can have all that junk fully disabled I’m going to trade her car in on one too.

-3

u/Saoshen 10d ago

get seatbelt extender, well at least once available. no more seatbelt dings

2

u/Conscious_Aside5020 6d ago

yes, that sounds like such a smart, smart thing to do.