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You would think the US, the number two car market in the world, would get all the best of car technology, right?
But thanks to a bunch of really slow-moving federal regulations, a patchwork of state regulations, and a fair amount of consumer apathy, we are, after all, the country that made the automatic transmission number one, we often get pretty weak car tech.
So here's my top five list of ways that cars in other countries have better tech sooner than cars in the US.
Sit back, and prepare to hate your new car.
[NOISE] Number five is eCall.
A system required on all new european cars since April 2018.
If any car there with this gear has an accident it automatically sends telemetry to emergency responders, with some data about the accident and most importantly precise location immediately.
It sends that to 112 their version of 911 We have something similar with OnStar and related systems, but it's by no means universal and baked into our country's infrastructure, probably should be.
[SOUND] Number 4 is side view cameras, it's 2018 and yet cars in the US all come from the factory with the equivalent of a makeup mirror stuck on the side of the thing.
They've been around since the 1930s and yet mirrors haven't change in US regulation not much in Europe they are already about to allow cameras on the side that instead show you a view what's behind you on little monitors, The new 2020 Audi E-tron electric crossover will have them It will come to the US It just won't come with this feature.
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Number three is smart brake lights.
In some other countries brake lights are allowed to flash rapidly if you really cram on the brakes hard.
It's an emergency stop, and they tell drivers behind you exactly that In the U.S., they can't do that.
The law requires that the brake lights come on with one continuous illumination per each continuous press of the brake pedal.
Pretty boring.
You're left with the choice of either stabbing on the brake pedal a bunch yourself, that's not always ideal, or just checking the rear view mirror, hanging on real tight And getting into some prayer.
Number 2 is autonomy.
Now the most autonomous cars sold in the US right now are either the Cadillac CT 6 with super cruise or whatever Tesla with autopilot is driving into something today.
But Audi's traffic jam pilot, which ironically seeks to be autonomous at lower And theoretically safer speeds, isn't allowed in the US.
A combination of regulatory issues, consumer perception, and the crappy infrastructure we have here.
You get to sit in traffic and keep babying your steering wheel.
Now before I get to number one, you can tell it's not gonna be remote parking.
Not that I'm not impressed by it.
But it's not essential like the other things on my list.
I can park my own car.
As you may have noticed though, not everybody can.
Either taking forever to do it, doing a cock-eyed job when they do or just not wanting to.
Now, Tesla does offer out of car remote parking, because they're Tesla.
But BMW hasn't brought their system to the market yet.
And that's about it.
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The number one car technology that they get and we don't This Frickin' Lasers.
American cars are not allowed to have the advanced LED or lase headlights that we find on some German rides already.
These are lights that are incredibly brighter and often smart.
Able to adaptively target things that are out there in front of you, just doesn't come to this country cuz regulators wrap their heads around it yet And somehow aren't convinced that better lighting is safer.
This despite the fact that the insurance institute for highway safety has recently been on a rampage condemning US headlights.
And now, taking points off of safety ratings for cars that don't do a better job lighting up the road.
So we're left having to be satisfied with the breakthrough that is the blueish white high-intensity discharge bulb.
That was a breakthrough, in the 90s.
