I'm happy with all of that as long as it's your insurance paying for the hospital bills, anyone injured in other cars, and to keep the ventilator running. But it will probably be the rest of us tax payers.
Annnnnyway, I think the danger is overstated when you compare the real hazards on the road of all the people with traction control not paying attention and multitasking when driving vs the likes of us wanting the option to turn off ESP to merge on inclines in our Smarts ;)
I know, I just couldn't resist. If I had a nickel for every one of these "discussions" in the Corvette world I'd be rich enough to pay the dealer fees in Florida.
As a Corvette owner and the previous owner of two Cadillacs with "Active Handling" and "Traction Control", I am compelled to add my 2 cents. In my experience, only a fool would disable the "Active Handling" feature in any sort of normal driving, as it will definitely save your butt many times during your ownership, and always allows better handling than with it turned off (with the possible exception of on a track with an expert driver - and I know we all think we are experts!). Traction Control, however, can be a real pain and even unsafe in certain situations, and the manufacturer should provide some simple "at hand" way to turn it off when necessary. All the GM cars I have had were/are equipped with a "Traction Control Off" switch. The Corvette has a "Competition" setting which disables the Traction Control and softens up the Active Handling allowing some sliding around while still being there to prevent the "big one". As others have pointed out, go the the Corvette Forum and read about all the sad guys that turned everything off. The moral of my 2 cents is: Leave both on unless someone can figure out a way to disable JUST the Traction Control on the smarties.
"But it will probably be the rest of us tax payers."
John... I actively fight against helmet laws and the general myth you expounded above...
20,000~24,000 Smarts... max this year.... how many motor heads like me might disable the ESP?... how many hours would the few of us drive in public traffic with it disabled?
Of those. what number will have an accident injuring or killing some one?
I would propose that all of you out there that drive with your knee, have a cell phone to your face, put on lipstick, shave, read a book/newspaper yada yada yada...or even simply fail to properly maintain your tire pressure are a much greater danger.............. numerically speaking...
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1976 Rover Mini
2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
2007 Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec (SOLD)
2009 smart Passion (Gone)
2011 smart Passion
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