[Valgas @ Apr 21st 2008 12:56PM]

Eventually, as the nation becomes dumber. We will be buying cars that simply drive themselves. Cup holders will remain and a few new features will be introduced - a slobber bucket, bucket seats with built in toilets with automatic asswipers, a food detecting microwave which will detect what type of food you put into it and nuke it accordingly, a vanity mirror (for the women to apply their make-up of course), a table and a bib to soak up coffee/soup spills and catch donut or egg McMuffin crumbs.

[Harkonian @ Apr 21st 2008 4:44PM]

@Valgas:

While I understand the knee-jerk reaction to the technology and claiming that drivers are becoming less skilled as a direct result, I'm not sure that is the case. Or if it is the case, the same could be said of the Anti-lock Breaking System and any other technology that improves your chances of avoiding a collision.

[Jeff @ Apr 22nd 2008 2:14AM]

This is really a reply to Harkonian.

See, the difference is, ABS fixes an inherent problem with non-ABS brakes: They lock, which renders them completely ineffective. You still need to press the brakes, so you still need to be just as aware of your surroundings, only with ABS brakes, your car has much less chance of sliding right into what you were trying to avoid, because you're not braindead and were watching the road.

Cars full of tech to "assist" the driver do something completely different: they let the driver pay less attention to actually driving. Why check my blind spot, the car does it for me. Why touch the brakes, the car does it for me. Why watch the road ahead, the car does it for me. This is why this stupid technology makes worse drivers.

The worst of this technology is adaptive cruise control, IMO. If you need to slow down and speed up a lot while driving, you SHOULDN'T HAVE CRUISE CONTROL ON, NO MATTER HOW ADAPTIVE IT IS. This tech completely takes the driver out of the driving, which is a recipe for disaster.