Not to where you can use it to judge accurancy. Its actually more in view if your cab is angled towards the side you want to see, i.e if you want to see the rear O/S corner, the unit is moved to the right but then you can't see anything down the N/S whatsoever.
Cue lots of asinine comments about cameras down the side of trailers...
Conor was thinking very hard :
Yes of course, but are not discussing the length of my car, we are discussing an object which is hidden by that car. I can park my car accurately within a couple of inches of a wall, providing the wall can be seen from the driving seat.
Err, we are.
How the f*ck is a car hidden by your car?
Yet you claim you need parking sensors on the front to be able to park without hitting the car in front.
Where?
You've obviously never had parking sensors on a car.
What good would directly ahead be for seeing cyclists in the blind spot on the left corner?
I'd say some cars might benefit. My car has a high glassline, and a bonnet that drops away. I don't have any problem- I'm tall, and used to the car by now- but my other half continually thinks I'm about to hit things when parking as she can't tell where the front ends. A colleague said the same.
Conor pretended :
My own car lengths I know, but the bit I would be concerned with is the bit of the other car I cannot see. Cars are no longer box shaped and can be difficult to judge with enough accuracy to be confident of stopping within in a couple of inches. Trying to park or unpark a large car in a small space needs you to be able to use all of the available space and all of the help you can get to do it.
Also keep in mind that lengths of marked bays vary. I have come across marked bays into which my car would not fit even if I were able to drive it side ways into the bays.
Not all, I suggested that they would be useful. I only have rear sensors fitted and guess the front distance allowing a margin. The allowed extra few inches of margin for error would not be needed were I to fit sensors.
Chris Bartram has brought this to us :
Nearly all cars and commercial vehicles these days give you no feedback as to how far ahead of you the actual front bumper might be.
I have only driven cars which had correctly fitted ones, many home fitted ones are too far to the edges (I imagine)
I have one car where there is absolutely no view of any of the front of the car, first time I drove it was really weird, it felt like I was perched on the front bumper, I got used to it, but judging the nose is quite tricky.
Mine are fitted by Ford.
So what you're saying is they can't judge the vehicles length either.
Why do they need to, does it alter while you're driving? They never did in the past either. You can't see the front 18" of a Capri bonnet as it drops away and there's another 5" of bumper sticking out from the front of the car yet people who drove them didn't go smacking the car in front every time they parked.
Its in front of you.
They no longer have a bumper sticking out 5" from the bodyline either.
To see whats in front of you?
What relevence has that to how far in front of you the vehicle you're parking behind is? The car is static, its in front of you and you can see it.
Why not just find a place to park that you know you can actually fit in in the first place?
Conor submitted this idea :
Ah, so relatively easy compared to a modern car, because you can see most of the bonnet :-)
Nor do I go smacking my car in the front anytime I park.
Conor explained on 19/07/2009 :
No you can't you have to guess where it is, because it is hidden from your view. You have to guess because its lower extremities, the bits you could hit, disappear from your view as you approach it in the driving seat of a modern car.
No.
So WTF are you banging on about needing front parking sensors for something you claim you can't see but apparently don't hit?
How the f*ck is the car DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF YOU hidden from view?
BUT THEY HAVEN'T MOVED and the length of your car hasn't changed.
Do your insurance company know you're this shit at driving?
Conor has brought this to us :
You have already had that explained to you.
Of course they or their relationships have moved, my car is moving because I am parking it.
Why would they, I have never claimed in my life - but then I am not so stupid as to not take advantage of any gadget which might aid my driving.
What's the problem?
It's possible to drive without hitting an object in front of you, despite the fact you can't see either the front of your own bumper, or the edge of the object in front of you.
OTOH, it's possible to get much closer to said object without hitting it if you've got the benefit of parking sensors. (Assuming they work as advertised, I've never actually used them).
Just because someone doesn't need parking sensors to avoid hitting things doesn't make them useless.
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