(Please don’t sue me Potterverse. I don’t actually know where I got this picture. If I ever get more than a few hundred readers a day, I’ll replace it. But it’s perfect.)
Can we take the humans out of the equation? Yes, we can. But in the end, cars fail, like toasters and refrigerators fail — and they fail a good deal more often. The damn things are filled with parts, and parts, readers, are trouble. Suddenly, a flashing engine light makes you spend hundreds of dollars to find out you have a broken flashing engine light. Or the gas gauge says empty when you know the tank is full.
I know from experience and my parent’s car that a plucky human can keep barreling down the road without gas and with that pesky engine light warning of impending doom, a doom years in the coming that still has not arrived. Like Penny, I just put the key in the slot and dare fate. Somebody told dad not to worry unless the engine light turned from yellow to red.
He is planning to fix the car — again! – shortly.
But let’s forget engine-light car. Let’s remember ancient Sable. Ancient Sable needed four alternators, if memory serves me, and kept depositing me by the side of the road or in a random parking lot until I finally switched to Japanese cars for life.
We cannot put our cars in their own driver’s seats. When cars go bad, there’s no turning back. Bammm!! Suddenly, we have one less tree to make oxygen for us all, one more air bag exploding in our faces, and what have we gained from our latest attempt to work less? Most likely a lesson in human hubris.
Just because you can does not mean you should.
Eventually, all toasters fail. This morning, look at your toaster. Then go look under the hood of your car. Ask yourself how much you want to trust technology.
A Public Service Announcement from the Blue Room.
P.S. If you want to buy that car that warns you when other cars are too close, absolutely go for it. Just be sure to listen and look outside — and not just at the screen. With enough time and treachery, I could put zombies on that screen. Think about your past auto repair bills, too.
