Steve Shaw — so it’s not just me and my wheels.

The first time the bleeping beep problem arose, I was in a white-out on Highway 401, the trunk road of southern Ontario. Now, a white-out is quite unnerving enough for any motorist, but it’s a true sphincter test in three lanes of near bumper-to-bumper traffic on an autoroute with a speed limit of 100 kph. And then the warning beeps started. If I had not understood how that proximity alarm works, I would have been utterly terrified.

Germany has snow — I’ve seen it and driven the autobahn in it. How could VW’s designers make such a stupid mistake?

Likewise Ford.

Maybe they’re following the fashion industry example and designing only for an ideal client — and she lives in California.