This past weekend, I joined my parents and my brother, Justin, for a test drive of an electric car.
One of my dad’s best friends recently bought one, and the experience convinced my parents that self-driving features can improve safety. The added peace of mind that comes with that safety can significantly improve the quality of life for everyone involved.
The experience turned out to be educational in several unexpected ways.
All four of us took turns “driving” the car.
My dad went first. He entered the address of a large retail store, pressed the self-driving button, and sat back as the car navigated us to our destination. There were no issues. At one point, another vehicle pulled out in front of us, but the car handled the situation with ease—although it didn’t honk its horn as many human drivers might have.
My Mom was next. She seemed by far the most nervous. At one point, she said she needed to sit on her hands. I found it interesting that she struggled more than the rest of us with not being in control. Of the four of us, she tends to be the least likely to be a “control freak.” It drove home the point that it is hard to trust what you haven’t experienced.
Next came Justin. Having already been on a previous test drive, the experience was old hat to him.
Finally, it was my turn. I wasn’t particularly interested in “driving” because the purpose of the visit was for my parents to evaluate a new car. My opinion didn’t seem especially important. If they liked it, I figured I could take my turn later in life. Still, the group insisted. I ended up with the longest stint behind the wheel—about 20 minutes, including freeway driving. Once again, there were no issues.
The rest of my day was spent attending events with various groups of people. I had a birthday lunch with one group and a birthday dinner with another. During the evening, I met with a third group. They all wanted to know the same thing.
What was it like to ride in a self-driving car? When you tell them, most people don’t believe a self-driving car could possibly drive any better than them.
It is an odd phenomenon. We have all come to accept that our self-computing calculator is better than humans at doing math. (It has been common knowledge at least since the 1970s, when I was growing up, and I am sure most of society adapted to that logic long before then.)
Can you quickly tell me the square root of 37? How about the square footage of an 11’5” by 12’7” room?
If you ask me a question, such as the capital of Vermont, and you ask Google the same question, and the answers differ, which answer are you more likely to accept as true? If you and I were going on a trip to El Paso, would you prefer to use the app on your phone or an atlas? Who draws a straighter line, you with a level or a laser?
So, I was left with two takeaways.
The first takeaway was easy. If you are considering buying something, ask people with experience. Don’t take the word of people who haven’t experienced the electric car. What do they know? Everything they tell you is based on hearsay. They have heard or read various things, but those things aren’t based on reality. Their stories were handed down again and again. No need to rely on them when you can go to the source yourself. You don’t need to take other people’s third-party (or more) stories.
The second takeaway was buried but still just as important. The self-driving car outperformed a human-led effort because of its focus. The car, like a calculator, is singularly focused. It merges smoothly with other cars because, while merging, it is only “thinking” about merging. It isn’t considering which day would be best to golf this week or paying attention to the podcast on the radio. In the parking lot, the car focuses only on what the other car might do, not on hoping it beats the Honda Civic to the open space.
I became convinced that self-driving cars were the future when I was sitting at a fast-food restaurant and witnessed two humans crash their cars into each other as a self-driving Waymo passed harmlessly by in the aisle behind them.
I’m not getting a self-driving car anytime soon. But the experience drove home the point that focusing on the task at hand is key to good results. Lack of focus leads to failure.
Answer Key:
6.08276253, 143’8”, and Montpelier
