Just a few years ago, automakers were on the ropes that hang troubled shooters. Now they're back in town - six shooting for a younger posse. Why? The number of teenaged drivers has been declining while more 20-somethings don't or can't own a car. Their answer: connect young people to a car known as a "connected car."
The connection, of course, is a gun in a holster.
Or, for those versed in modern technology, access to telecommunication services via hands-free console units. Yes, our young gunslingers will be able to search the Internet, attach their electronic devices and deliver calls and tweets all while riding herd on roadways. We can be sure that even makers of electric cars are only responding to itchy trigger fingers. "It's absolutely a selling point" was the comment by a Tesla Model S spokesperson.
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Do we really need another reason for inexperienced drivers to naively put themselves and others at risk? Don't we realize that a car's advanced brake system doesn't stop most people from driving over the speed limit but actually encourages it? Did making it necessary to own a gun in the race headlong to the western regions of this country make it less wild and deadly?
Our history has shown that not everything that was made possible was preferable or even palpable. Atomic and nuclear energy led to weapons and bombs that can annihilate the world. Aviation has brought about clandestine search-and-destroy missions. And guns have resulted in widespread crime and killings.
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I'm not suggesting that there are not good reasons and purposes for energy, flight and security any more than for automobiles. I'm suggesting that they be handled by mature and experienced owners who should not be tempted to use them as ploys, if not toys.
We need a new sheriff and I don't mean a president of anything. We need a quality control specialist to keep us safe from defective thinking and destruction workmanship. We need a moral compass that points north, not west. And we need automakers that are grateful for rebounding after getting lynched by the recession.
Wanting to exploit and raid the homestead of the young is not fighting back as much as it is, once again, giving in to greed. "Distracted while driving" is not wanted and should not come with a reward.
