To go to the press?

[29herzie]

So, WIBU to take the following to the papers or does anyone have a better suggestion?

We hired a car a few weeks ago on holiday. It turned out that it had an electric parking brake (no handbrake). DH discovered that the only way to know if this button hand been pressed (and if the brake was on) was a tiny red light on the dashboard. DH is colourblind and couldn't see the light in the sun. The car then rolled off down the hill, luckily without my DCs in the back and ended up 'only' demolishing a fence. We were in the Alps and so could have been much worse.

We are currently still waiting on the outcome of the dispute with the car hire company about this, but I also contacted the car manufacturer. I believe there is a design flaw that they need to address. They have just come back to me to say that it's nothing to do with them and we need to make our needs known to a hire company in future. I am not happy with this and feel that they should be thinking about making sure their cars are safe to drive, DH can't be the only driver who is red/green colourblind?

What do you think?

[29herzie]

Paul - I did write. First. The post is in response to their reply.

DH did not continue to drive said car.

Light did not show in bright sunshine.

Point is lots of people are red/green colour blind and vehicles supplied by a car hire firm should be able to be driven by anyone. Being colour blind does not stop you driving.

[PaulAnkaTheDog]

So he parked on a steep hill, knowing full well that the light wasn't definitely on?

[Hopefully]

My dad is red/green colourblind and has been a motoring journo/author for over 60 years without this ever being a problem. I don't think you can even begin to claim that the manufacturer is at fault here - the light is on or off, regardless of colour.

[Schrodingersmum]

I feel for you op

DS is Protanopia colourblind (severe red blind)

Stats for a few of the people querying 1 in 12 men are colour blind 2/3 red/ green 1/3 green/red

Its a spectrum condition, some are severely affected, in dark lighting ds cannot see red on black (like a dashboard!)

He sees red on its own but not as we see it but lighting has a severe effect

Green traffic lights had blue added some years ago to help colourblind people

People are assuming it was a manual gear box car, we have an automatic with electric hand brake so you can't leave it in gear

During daytime driving dashboard lights are not as bright and may be harder to workout

That said when your husband collected the car and realised this was a problem could he not have asked for an alternative?

We all have a responsibility to drive with appropriate adaption to our disabilities and I am a disabled driver

[BaronessEllaSaturday]

Being colourblind does not prevent you from seeing if the light is on or not it only stops you differentiating between colours, this is about your dh not taking sufficient care.

[limitedperiodonly]

I suggest you try the motoring press or motoring pages in newspapers OP.

They would know whether they'd be interested in the story rather the people on here, some of whom appear to be accusing you of trying to defraud the poor hire company.

Because it's a well known fact that car hire companies are incredibly fair and in no way try to land you with costs for damage you haven't caused or inflated costs for damage you might have suffered.

That's why none of us have ever carefully gone round a hire car with the rep pointing out existing damage to be marked on a form and photographing it at all angles before driving off. Well, I do. But maybe I'm not the trusting type.

Good luck. Sounds interesting.

[ifyoulikepinacolada]

YABU OP. The accident happened because he didn't check properly - not through a manufacturing fault. And it's the car hirers' responsibility to check the cars their hiring out are suitable - the quibble ends with them.

As a side note, surely he could have blocked the sun with his hand for a second to check whether the light was on?

[ifyoulikepinacolada]

*they're. THEY'RE. Sorry guys. That was extremely U of me.

[nattyknitter]

I'm guessing Fiat filed your complaint in the circular filing cabinet where it belongs.

Any driver in an unfamiliar car has a responsibilty to check where the controls are and how they work when they do their cockpit checks. If he was unsure he should have asked about it when you picked up the car and if it didn't suit, you should have asked for something different before leaving.

As mentioned upthread there are plenty of things you can do on a hill for safety, such as leave in gear and turn the steering wheel. This is all taught as standard in driving lessons these days, so I don't think you can compain about the light for a silly mistake that was human error.

Sometimes you just have to admit you were wrong and accept the consequences.

[CatchAPlaneToBarcelona]

I imagine the rental company and any lawyers they instruct will just point out that the onus was on you, the renter, to read the instruction booklet provided in the glove compartment.

They will say that the onus is on you to make sure you are fit to drive that car and that if you suffer from any sort of medical condition or disability you should have pointed it out to them in advance. I bet if you read your contract that will be there in the small print. Although I doubt anyone in the rental office would have put 2 and 2 together and thought to allocate you a different car, in which case you might have had a good case against them.

[GloGirl]

Actually I would write with a complaint to Watchdog so it was noted.
I agree your husband is at fault but I would think that it's a stupid design that needs to be looked at again.

[lastnightiwenttomanderley]

I really don't see how being colourblind is relevant - light is on or off, irrespective of colour, surely. Whether it's visible is a different matter and one that the manufacturer may be interested in.

Not sure if I've missed it anywhere on this thread but have you actually revealed what make and model the car was?

I have an electronic handbrake that I have never managed to leave off. I rarely 'look' at it to check whether it's on or off as it's just autopilot to see the little light on the dash, plus I think you have to jump through several hoops to take the key out and lock it without it coming on automatically. It also doesn't let you release it unless you have your seatbelt on v annoying when just manoeuvering around the drive

My point being, if you tell us which car is, you might get some other people saying 'oh yes, I found that a problem'.

But to go to the press? Yes, YABU.

[limitedperiodonly]

It's all well and good to say that every driver has a responsibility to familarise themselves with every aspect of the car before turning the ignition, but the fact is that many people don't.

So if a car has a feature that confuses some people it ought to be brought to attention. If it confuses enough people it ought to be withdrawn.

Because I don't want to be crossing the road on a hill behind a car with a design feature that means that some people inadvertently fail to apply the handbrake.

[Rosa]

Handbrake or not he should have left it in gear.
I had an electronic handbrake on a hire car this winter - ist one I have seen and I was not shown by a leading rental company how it worked . I had to park it for 17 days on a 1:5 hill I always left it in reverse gear incase I haddn't pushed the button properly . I then asked google how to effctively do a hill start using the handbrake - it took me 10 minutes to find out. I still like the 'proper' one though !!!!

[HeyNonnyMaybe]

I don't get it, not having one of these new fangled machines. So, you stop the car with your foot brake. You then press a button on the dashboard to engage what would otherwise be the handbrake, and take your foot off the pedal?

If you press the button twice does it go on then off again? Or are there two different ways of pressing the button?

How does the light stay illuminated to show that the 'handbrake' is on, once the engine is off?

[CremeBrulee]

No I'm not buying it at all. When there's an electronic brake there is no traditional handbrake. This is a bloody big clue that you need to take additional care & ensure you have engaged the brake before leaving the vehicle.

You're just trying to wriggle out of being liable for the damage.

[nattyknitter]

So if a car has a feature that confuses some people it ought to be brought to attention. If it confuses enough people it ought to be withdrawn.

In which case we'd all be driving round in Model T Fords. My gran was terrified and confused by her washing machine when they first came out, it doesn't mean I'm willing to stand at the sink with a washboard every Monday.

It's all well and good to say that every driver has a responsibility to familarise themselves with every aspect of the car before turning the ignition, but the fact is that many people don't

In which case they have no rights to complain when they fuck up. Ignorance is no defence.

[BunnyTyler]

Nonny, in my car the 'handbrake' is positioned where the usual manual handbrake is. I have to sort of push it backwards rather than up/down and I can't disengage it manually - the only way it comes off is to start to drive to overcome it.
It also comes on automatically when I switch the engine off.

[OurBlanche]

HeyNonny - all of that is manufacturer dependent.

DH gets new hire cars regularly, so he has met many variations. He is making a list of things he does not want in our next car. We may have to buy a classic car at this rate

[LurkingHusband]

Our (automatic, Citroen) has an automatic electric handbrake. It's applied when the ignition is OFF - no additional tweaks needed. It disengages when the engine is running, the footbrake is ON and the car in gear.

If the car is on a slope, the footbrake is held on until the clutch bites.

The handbrake can be manually applied via a sodding big button in the centre of the dash. When it's on, the whole button is lit up.

MrsLH has just reminded me we hired a car in Iceland which had a manual electric brake (because I kept forgetting it on !). I think that was a Nissan ? Hyundai ? Toyota ?

[BunnyTyler]

OurBlanche, my car parks itself - I have the opposite problem to it not wanting to park in massive gaps - mine gets me into spaces I would never contemplate myself.
I love it!
I could now never be without all the things that drive you mad

[BarbaraofSeville]

I hate button handbrakes. I never have a fucking clue whether the handbrake is on or off. I've never noticed a light on the dash and if it isn't labelled, what does the light mean? I usually just leave it in gear and hope for the best.

I have to drive hire cars for work. You don't always get the instruction manual and the hire car place isn't always open when you use the car (they deliver them to my house and put the keys through the letterbox).

And not all cars have proper keys any more. More than once I have been sat in the car in the dark, running late at 6 am, trying to work out how to start the bastard car, using a key fob with no key in it, and a button that is conveniently hidden from my eyeline by my left leg.

Cars should have proper ignition systems and proper handbrakes. Everyone knows how to use them awaits comments about me expecting to have a man with a red flag walking in front of my car.

[roundaboutthetown]

? Surely there was a fault with the car? I hate automatic handbrakes, but they would normally have a safety feature on them where the handbrake goes on automatically when you park, so it should be very difficult to work out how to override this so as to leave the handbrake off if you've switched off the engine.

[JessieMcJessie]

The one I experienced, Nonny was in a VW Golf. It was a button in between the seats where the handbrake always is. You hooked your fingers under it to switch it on and a sort of clicky sound was heard. It lit up when on and possibly something lit on the dash too. The weirdest thing, however was that you didn't have to turn it off to drive away; it did that automatically when you accelerated. I wasn't keen on that as it got me out of my usual pulling away routine.

OP, you've already told the manufacturer so you have discharged your responsibility to point out the fault for the sake of others. I am afraid that a threat to call Watchdog or the Daily Mail won't scare a huge company like that in the slightest. If you got the story in the press ( unlikely unless you can find others who had the same problem) you'd have to give your real name and you'd just end up with a barrage of critical comments like the ones here. Probably best to chalk it up to experience and move on.

[bigbuttons]

Christ, hill starts without proper hand breaks. The thought makes me shudder. I used to drive a 9 seater Mercedes automatic van. I could not for the life of me work out how do do a hill start using the hand break which you had to sort of pull out towards you. It was located next to the steering wheel.
There was a convoluted way of releasing it too. So when doing any sort of hill start in traffic I just used to realease the foot break and go for the accelerator as quickly as possible.. There was always just enough time to do this before it started to roll.
Hideous.
Give me a god old fashioned hand break on a manual car any day.

I feel for you op but going to the press won't help. It might well be a crappy design but ultimately it us your responsibility.