Retrofit safety features
Discussion
Has anyone tried retro-fitting safety features to older cars? If so, what would you think is worth having? My (youngish) son has set his heart on a Mini Cooper (which doesn’t even have ESP but he has limited budget!). I’m thinking of dash cams with forward collision warning, and perhaps a separate blind spot warning. Anyone got experience how useful these are? Not expecting a Volvo-like standard but anything helps, as they say. Cheers
carreauchompeur said:
Nah….invest the cash in a Pass Plus course instead.
I've certainly seen plenty of statistics that suggest this gives the most safety per unit of money spent. The next biggest bonus for the money it costs is probably making sure the car is in top mechanical condition, especially making sure it has decent tyres which suit the conditions it's being driven in. Not even ESP????? What a horror!!!!!
Don‘t bother with any of the things you suggested and invest in a safety driving course.
And hopefully you have learned him that driving is a serious and joyful task that requires your undivided attention. We all have a forward collision warning since birth: our eyes. Keep them on the road and you are good.
Young drivers especially should learn to drive with the least amount of driver aids possible, imo. My learners car was a 2000 Renault Clio that had ABS and that‘s it. My first car was a ‚67 Volvo P1800 that had nothing. And I managed fine because I liked driving and I took it seriously.
Don‘t bother with any of the things you suggested and invest in a safety driving course.
And hopefully you have learned him that driving is a serious and joyful task that requires your undivided attention. We all have a forward collision warning since birth: our eyes. Keep them on the road and you are good.
Young drivers especially should learn to drive with the least amount of driver aids possible, imo. My learners car was a 2000 Renault Clio that had ABS and that‘s it. My first car was a ‚67 Volvo P1800 that had nothing. And I managed fine because I liked driving and I took it seriously.
ARHarh said:
I am still alive, and my first car was a 1967 Vauxhall viva. It didn't even really have brakes 
I still drive a car with no ESP, no anti lock brakes, in fact no safety features at all, bar some rudimentary seat belts. You don't need these things to survive a road trip.
My daily for the last 12yrs has none of that crap either yet bizarrely, I’m still here! I still drive a car with no ESP, no anti lock brakes, in fact no safety features at all, bar some rudimentary seat belts. You don't need these things to survive a road trip.Depending how old the car is you could fit something like Racelogic Traction Control, I wouldn't bother though.
A dashcam is always a good idea. A collision warning dashcam is useless and annoying.
If it's an old mini there is no need for blind spot detection, reversing camera etc, because it has the ultimate safety feature: good visibility.
A dashcam is always a good idea. A collision warning dashcam is useless and annoying.
If it's an old mini there is no need for blind spot detection, reversing camera etc, because it has the ultimate safety feature: good visibility.
The first thing I would be liking to address is the attitude towards driving safely, both his and yours.
We all know how the vast majority of young, newly qualified males drive, most of us have been there. Bolting aftermarket, retro fit “safety” products to a car is the wrong way to be approaching this.
An open, honest discussion about the risks and realities involved would be a starting point, along with pass plus and any additional post driving test training available.
Also, having him pay for both the car and insurance himself will tend to focus the mind as to how important it is to keep it, and himself, in one piece.
We all know how the vast majority of young, newly qualified males drive, most of us have been there. Bolting aftermarket, retro fit “safety” products to a car is the wrong way to be approaching this.
An open, honest discussion about the risks and realities involved would be a starting point, along with pass plus and any additional post driving test training available.
Also, having him pay for both the car and insurance himself will tend to focus the mind as to how important it is to keep it, and himself, in one piece.
Are we talking a classic mini or a bmw era one??
I think adding a dash cam is a good idea, otherwise as long as it has ABS and airbags I’d be relatively comfortable about the car being “basically” safe.
I will go against the grain of this thread though and say that while I also learned to drive in a car with no ABS and my first car was a death trap, as a new driver I had a couple of offs which would have been prevented by ABS, ESP and emergency braking. I’m not suggesting to the OP that retrofitting them is the way forward, but I really disagree with the “I didn’t die in an unsafe car so young drivers should just start out without any aids”.
In an ideal world all new drivers would drive defensively and as if they have 20 years experience, but that’s simply not the reality.
And even a driving god will get caught out by a deer jumping out at night at some point and in situations like that, ABS helps, and should the worst happen, so do things like pretensioners and airbags.
I think adding a dash cam is a good idea, otherwise as long as it has ABS and airbags I’d be relatively comfortable about the car being “basically” safe.
I will go against the grain of this thread though and say that while I also learned to drive in a car with no ABS and my first car was a death trap, as a new driver I had a couple of offs which would have been prevented by ABS, ESP and emergency braking. I’m not suggesting to the OP that retrofitting them is the way forward, but I really disagree with the “I didn’t die in an unsafe car so young drivers should just start out without any aids”.
In an ideal world all new drivers would drive defensively and as if they have 20 years experience, but that’s simply not the reality.
And even a driving god will get caught out by a deer jumping out at night at some point and in situations like that, ABS helps, and should the worst happen, so do things like pretensioners and airbags.
SuperPav said:
And even a driving god will get caught out by a deer jumping out at night at some point and in situations like that, ABS helps, and should the worst happen, so do things like pretensioners and airbags.
You can’t retro-fit pre-tensioners and airbags if the car is not set up for it. They all work as part of an integrated system. As others have said, an advanced safety driving course focussing on observation and anticipation would be the best money spent. The best would be a series of courses that build on each other, so that progress is re-evaluated and built upon.
steveo3002 said:
thought this was going to be about fitting seat belts in a retro lol
car full of gadgets doesnt make a safe driver
Fitted roller belts to one or two of the parental cars in the '60s. They (the cars!) either had fixed belts or none at all previously.car full of gadgets doesnt make a safe driver
Youngsters will always want to push the limits whatever the safety features fitted.
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