A recent feature on MSNBC demonstrated how companies, along with the government, are trying to get black boxes into automobiles. The black box would be able to determine your position using GPS, along with the current status of your car’s airbags and if it has flipped or not (using the wonderful "Inverted" variable.)
The reason to do this, according to the report, is to make cars safer. Uhm, well, okay… but cars today are relatively safe, aren’t they? I think so. We’ve got ABS, dual front airbags, side airbags, window curtains, crumple zones… all of that. Cars are safe. The problem is that people aren’t being properly educated on how to drive.
Driver’s Education programs are reflecting lots of the educational programs nowadays: lackluster and adequate at best. I know that lots of things that I really should have learned back in Driver’s Ed, I didn’t. And it wasn’t because I wasn’t paying attention. It might’ve been because the books were from 1972, when driving was much much different. It might’ve been the simulators, which were a joke (and looked like washing machines.) Behind the wheel was okay, but still not the same.
I wonder what Driver’s Ed is like today. If it’s a reflection of the current generation of drivers, it stinks. Turn signals, for instance, were just a fad. Right of way is a joke. Being courteous in traffic? Nuh-uh. It genuinely seems as if the education is missing in Driver’s Ed.
But, of course, we can’t fault this on the students or the teachers – no, no! It’s gotta be the fault of the cars. That’s why we’re going to pay more money for more features on cars that we don’t really need, but will have forced on us by the poor attempt at educating drivers.
Cops give tickets for speeding like it’s the worst sin on the planet. How about weaving, cutting off, tailgating relentlessly, and not knowing how to drive? -pm
Posted in Cars