Self-Control & Ignorance & Driverless Cars

[Listen to an audio version of this blog here.]

I like a car with an actual key. Not one of those computerized trinkets that needs to be coded and hardwired and that might just die on you at any second. Call me old fashioned (which happens to be my favorite mixed drink). Tell my I’m justifying my keyed budget Hyundai. I like inserting the key and turning it and hearing my engine start. I like that if the little remote thing dies, I can still open my car. The underlying objective though, is that I like that my car is not smarter than I am. It does not try to stay in the lane; there are no corrective measures if I suddenly careen into oncoming traffic, no sensors to beep at me and force my tires back. You might find this dangerous, but I find it unbearably safe. If I cannot rely on my car to keep itself on the road then I must rely on me, and so far I’ve done a pretty damn good job in that regard. I have the safe driver’s insurance discount to prove it.

I used to drive an old (2003) Kawasaki motorcycle, complete with a carbureted engine and a gas gauge that only worked correctly when the bike was nice and warm. I loved that bike. I loved the way it smelled and the deep growl of the engine and the way I was in complete control of how smoothly I stopped, of how quickly I drove, of how I navigated in and out of the thick fray of cars coasting along…