Re: Airbags - only last 10 years ?

Adrian wrote:
> Huw (hedydd[nospam]@tiscali.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like
> they were saying :
>
>>> BUT - why SHOULDN'T people still have the right to buy a car without
>>> electronic muppet-overrides if they so wish?
>
>> But they do. In very small numbers.
>
> Yes. And you seem to be arguing they shouldn't be able to.

To an extent yes. It is not sensible not to offer these things and virtually
every manufacturer does as standard. Like I said, a kill switch would cost
pennies. What it boils down to is that some consumers are daft enough to buy
vehicles such as the TVR without abs etc. The Company is only looking to
sell a few and since those very few couldn't care less for the feature, they
get away with it. Thankfully most consumers are now switched on enough to
examine safety features as part of the buying process, not something that
was common more than fifteen years ago, and demand better with each
successive model generation. There will always be the odd ostrich and they
may well gravitate towards TVR. TVR on the other hand would have nothing to
lose and possibly much to gain by offering these systems, albeit with kill
switches for the more daring drivers, as do their competitors.



>
>>>> That will come soon enough after 2010 when the Galileo
>>>> system is fully on-line. That system will enable constant mileage
>>>> charging and automatic fines for exceeding speed limits an a real
>>>> time basis. That is when the fun stops.
>
>>> No, it won't. Galileo is just another GPS. The satellites will sit
>>> in geostationary orbits and broadcast timestamps. Just as GPS does.
>>> Your receiver will receive them and triangulate to give a position.
>>> Just as GPS does.
>>>
>>> What applications are built *around* that position is a different
>>> kettle of fish. Just as with GPS.
>
>> Galileo will facilitate a whole range of applications which have not
>> been dreamt of yet.
>
> Agreed.
>
>> One that has been dreamt of is road pricing of
>> even minor roads and this would not be practical using present
>> systems. Also finding the location of every or any vehicle at any
>> time. Possibility of tagging people or even every individual so the
>> State knows where they are at any time.
>
> Which are impossible for physical, logistical and political reasons
> FAR more major than the mere accuracy of current GPS.

The signal has to be two way and technology has moved on somewhat from the
70's when GPS was conceived.

>
>> There will be many beneficial applications I'm sure, such as the
>> possibility of precision automatic steering which is not possible at
>> present without a stationary correcting signal.
>
> Increased GPS accuracy (I'm using GPS to include Galileo) is of no
> benefit above and beyond current imaging systems, as it can never
> cope with obstacles in the road.

I'm not thinking specifically of on-road applications, although if every car
was equipped and every mobile road obstruction mapped automatically, and the
signal combined with existing and future technology such as car based
automatic distance and lane following controls etc. then who knows what
would be possible on major trunk routes or even universally.


>
> Galileo's biggest advantage over GPS is that it isn't a proprietary
> military system that just happens to be available for civilian use.
> The technology is fundamentally identical.

I think you will find the versatility and utility and possibly the intrusion
into personal lives will be in a different league to present GPS. Big
brother will be watching you unless we all put legal limits on its use at an
early stage. Government by its very nature strives to control and limit its
subjects and we cannot guarantee that future Governments will be benign in
nature.

Huw


.

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