Other than the obvious smaller windows and thicker side panels, how have car safety regulations influenced the design, performance, and overall feel of cars throughout the years?
>>29120218Certain cars (namely Sports Sedans, Sports Coupes, and Sports Cars) are Designed with LOWER ride heights, then raised during final production so their bumpers can be HIGH enough for pedestrian safety or some nonsense
I think smaller windows are the most obvious difference. Personally, not a big deal for me. It is true that smaller windows offer less visibility but with modern cars having backup cameras, side mirror cameras, and even 360 overhead view cameras now, I'd argue that drivers have never had MORE visibility.
>>29120224They need those cameras because of the poor visibility
>>29120218Starting in 2026, Euro NCAP will deduct points during new car safety tests for the absence of physical controls for key functions.Euro NCAP experts emphasize that critical functions—such as turn signals, windshield wipers, hazard lights, the horn, and the eCall button—should be operated via physical controls rather than being buried in touchscreen menus.
>>29120224360 camera in most cars is dog shit. I use side mirrors in my car with 360 camera. Side mirrors are superior.
>>29120236I support the notion but I wonder if deducting a few points is enough to actually encourage automakers to include more physical controls. They would probably just weigh the cost of losing a few safety points versus money saved from programming in touchscreen controls
>>29120299I have a rearview mirror camera and a backup camera and I still find myself looking back to reverse. Also, decades of muscle memory parallel parking have made it so that I parallel park worse using cameras. Backup camera has been super helpful for reversing into tight spaces though
