Cool things you can’t get in your car in North America
Posted in Culture, Life on October 26th, 2004 by MichaelThe New York Times has a short article about three technologies that are available in Europe and Japan but won’t make it to North America, at least not in the forseeable future.
Fear of legal action has also stopped Toyota from offering its Intelligent Parking Assist feature, which is now available on the hybrid gas-electric Prius model sold in Japan.
This device automatically parks the car, maneuvering the Prius backward and into the space. To activate it, the driver first pulls alongside the forward vehicle, then drags a picture of a flag marker and parking triangle on the car’s touchscreen display, until they are positioned where the vehicle should wind up.
But the system cannot respond to changing conditions, like the vehicle in front suddenly backing into the space the Prius is about to enter. Nor can the system respond to unexpected road obstacles %u2014 a soccer ball rolling into the gutter or a child running in the way.
While the system seems ideal for congested streets like New York’s, “we have no plans for the U.S.,” said Jon Bucci, corporate manager for advanced technology at Toyota Motor Sales. “This is a very litigious society.”
Emphasis mine.
I have to say I was always amazed how easily people seem to sue one another. One of the things I found scary was the following:
I talked with a colleague maybe a year ago about how you can be charged if you don’t help someone who gets into an accident. I told him it was mandatory in Germany to have a first aid kit with you in the car and I was surprised that this wasn’t the case in Canada. He told me that he found this rather funny, in Canada you would probably be sued if you helped somebody and they got some damage that may be linked to your help (in Germany you are protected by law from something like this).
Think about it, someone has an accident, might be bleeding out in their car, but you better don’t come close and put pressure on the vein, because if you do and he still bleeds out, you’ll be charged / sued.
Cool, isn’t it? (Note sarcasm).
