1918 In Itself-Driving

It won't be long before we have a self-driving car. Computers are getting smarter and smarter and people are getting fed up with other people getting dumber and dumber. I hope when the smart car first takes the road, it's been programmed to be different than my teenager when he first drove. Poor kids. Somehow drivers training leaves them with the impression that other drivers follow the rules.
When we think of self-driving cars, of course we think of Google but other countries are in the race too. Like the early days of flight. And like the early days of flight it might be safe to steer clear for a while.
In any event the European Commission has come up with an entry into the idea bank. It's to have self-driving cars connect in a road train. Once connected, it's just the lead driver that has to do most of the worry. Because the lead car has a decision-making human in it. Like an engineer or a bus driver.
The Euros call it the Sartre project. Which is a little unsettling. Sartre being the key thinker in the existentialist philosophy movement. Which asks questions like: What is "self"? And where is it going?
And can you have a self-driving car if you don't know what self is?
It's a branch of thinking that puts a lot of emphasis on both the power of choice and the essential lack of choice we usually exert that leads to feelings of loss and angst as we all desperately cling to a meaningless existence.
Look out for that semi coming at us head on!!
One would hope the lead driver is picked carefully. And isn't some Stranger undergoing a mental Metamorphosis leading him to act as if there is No Exit.
America, ya gotta love it.