Thursday, March 20, 2014

Online Cars

I have been fascinated by the fast adoption of driver assist technology in cars.

My daughter just bought a new Honda mini van. It has back up cameras that frame the space in colored lines to tell you how close  you are to hitting something. Then it beeps at your if you are too dense to understand the lines.

I get beeped at a lot.

It also has a right side camera so you can see the right lane behind you for turns or merging.

I drive a 1985 Ford F-150 that has an AM radio and heat. This is amazing enough for me.

But all this is nothing compared to other driver assist tech on cars today.

Today there is an article on Business Insider about augmented reality coming to your next car. Basically a heads up display.

Now I am thinking about maybe getting a new car instead of waiting for a self driving car.

While you can never argue about these improvements making cars safer, the reduction in accidents is going to have a ripple effect that will take money out of the pockets of many businesses.

If you have fewer accidents there will be fewer cars to be repaired at body shops. And fewer people to be repaired in emergency rooms. And fewer speeding tickets paid to law enforcement. And lower insurance premiums to insurance carriers. And lower commissions to insurance agents.

My Need for a Self Driving Car Recently


I spent a month in Australia and two weeks in England this year. Normally I rent cars when I travel. But I did not want to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road - I must be getting old.

I would have paid a nice premium to be able to rent a self driving car on these trips.

So Avis, lets get on that.