Indeed, and this also explains the popularity of Dacia.
I would go a step further and say that I don't even want some safety features if the cost/benefit ratio is not unequivocally positive. The safety push in the car industry is great for incumbent manufacturers but bad for consumers on a budget. I fully realize we still lose too many people in car accidents, but I'd rather use public transport or bikes for 90% of my travels and own a slightly unsafer but very cheap car that I use sporadically. (This is in a region that is very bike-friendly with superb public transport).
Wait a few years, PRC investing big in indigenous auto components, cost of electronics/sensors is easy to value engineer and scale. I think if you're prodominantly operating in urban enviros, especially one that's bike friendly (pedestrian centred), some extra safety is worthwhile investment. Auto parking seems like a nice feature for city driving, having lots of sensors provide overlapping features and there's more to gain than lose. Chinese cars sector are going to make those standard in cheap cars and hopefully convince everyone else to as well.
I wouldn't dismiss the safety feature a modern car has, you never know when you might need them.
Features like auto braking system are incredible. I know someone where this saved a kids life (kid ran on the road from between cars right in front of a car).
The crash safety feature on high end cars are also incredible, I know someone else with a completely mangled up car after a high speed crash just walk and be fine.
I am also old enough to know people that have died or with lasting damage like paralysis or back issues from crashes quite some time ago.
I have a car with auto braking. It's never prevented an accident but has nearly caused a few. When exiting onto a cambered road, it senses the slope of the road in front of the car as being an object that it thinks I'm about to hit, and stops randomly. It then refuses to move again until I completely take my foot off the accelerator and depress the brake fully. The fact that it takes a good couple of seconds to coordinate all of this is super dangerous, especially when trying to pull out in a gap in a high traffic area. I'd rather take my chances without it to be honest.
I've also had the lane-assist try and yank me towards oncoming traffic. Also not fun.
Volkswagen Golf mk 7.5 - 2020 year model. The issue is well documented online. Problems with safety features are definitely not unique to it though. I travel reasonably often and have driven a variety of hire cars recently with similar issues. Overall I'm just not convinced that 'safety' features are taking us in the right direction.
That's the problem, it's not about your safety, it's about that of your environment. And Dacia's, especially their cheap SUVs, are horrible at keeping pedestrians safe.
I would go a step further and say that I don't even want some safety features if the cost/benefit ratio is not unequivocally positive. The safety push in the car industry is great for incumbent manufacturers but bad for consumers on a budget. I fully realize we still lose too many people in car accidents, but I'd rather use public transport or bikes for 90% of my travels and own a slightly unsafer but very cheap car that I use sporadically. (This is in a region that is very bike-friendly with superb public transport).