The Demise Of The Art Of Driving

Papa and I had talked about driving today and what driving will be in the future.

I mentioned the advent of the electric cars and boldly proclaimed that driving as we know it today will be way simpler in the succeeding years: No more clutch and gas mixes. No more shoddy estimates about when to change gears. No more human errors. 

First, driving is going to look like what it was when I was still strolling in SM Cubao. Back then, Mama was studying in UP Diliman and, during the weekends, we would go to the mall and ride the electric cars. These were simply cushioned contraptions in wheels with an electric motor, a "go" pedal , and a kid-size steering wheel. That was my first driving lesson but it didn't look that way because I thought those carts were bumper cars and I was busy ramming against the other kids' cars.

Second, and more importantly, driving is going to be simple as sitting on your coach. That's it. Just sitting. A monitor plops out; you dictate your destination via voice command; the GPS in your car instructs it how to proceed; you sit there in the back seat pretending you are being chauffeured by a real human. 

Fun, isn't it? And, in those times, kids are going to wonder how we drove cars in the past.