Drive by wire, for instance, allowing to tailor the steering ratio depending to speed.
This has been tried before, and does not work. The reason should be obvious to anyone that's ever driven a vehicle. The closest to variable steering that actually works is the various 4WS systems the Japanese manufacturers used in the 1980s-1990s. Curiously they don't bother any more.
It's literally used by Nissan in some of their vehicles. There's a redundant clutch which activates if power is lost or there is a fault with the system providing a mechanical override, but in normal use the steering is entirely electronic. Combined with variable resistance on the wheel you could create quite a realistic feel whilst gaining the benefits of truly adaptive steering. That said, I can't quite get over the idea of having no mechanical linkage, I don't trust the redundant system quite enough. And ordinary electric power steering is perfectly sufficient IMO, I've never thought that this would improve things, just make them more expensive if anything went wrong!
hasn't "Pedestrian Detection and Collision Mitigation Systems" with automatic braking not become mandatory yet?, I know it's been proposed so it won't be long
Yes, these systems exist, I am pretty sure my car has this system:
https://youtu.be/watch?v=0P7M8PvG0Pc&t=2m37sHowever such systems are not infallable, they cannot detect all pedestrians, cyclists etc. Adding more mass will always mean any accident that does happen is more severe. The focus should be on reducing vehicle size and weight where possible. Especially on reducing bonnet height, as that strongly defines the severity of an accident: if you hit a pedestrian with a lower-down car like a Golf, they're much more likely to impact their head on the windscreen, which is less likely to be fatal than with an SUV where head impacts tend to be on bodywork.
Obviously, some people need larger vehicles, such as those with wheelchairs, elderly/infirm people, and those who use their vehicle as part of their profession. But SUVs (and trucks) are primarily marketed towards people as a vanity purchase*, and the average occupancy of an SUV barely exceeds that of a smaller car. Cybertruck is even worse, though the statistic in the US for pickup trucks is something like only 30% of people use their pickup bed more than once per year, it's crazy.
*Like for instance, the ridiculous SUV ads like these:
https://youtu.be/watch?v=0ITLWCfxmLc ... yeah, the majority of the time, this vehicle is gonna be sitting in traffic, like the rest of us.
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