Way too much!

"Hemispheres" is the inflight magazine for United, and a I end up sitting in many places with nothing to do, I have quickly become an avid reader. They actually have a few good features, including the monthly edition of 'Three Perfect Days' which gives you a great over view a specific city each month and how to spend a mere three days there. Very cool, especially with how expensive travel is, to know that you can cram quite a bit into three days is great. They have done everything from Las Vegas to Cairo, Egypt.

This month's magazine also had an article about ground transportation and its dependence on technology. It explained which car makers are currently installing "do everything" gps systems that can do whatever you need, from getting you the latest weather and real-time traffic updates, to finding the cheapest gas prices in your area. This is not good enough though. Newer features are including a collision avoidance system in which the car (which has 6 cameras installed with lasers to acquire speed and distance of other obstacles and vehicles) will take the driving over to try and avoid a collision. WHAT? You are trying to tell me that while driving 75mph on a busy highway, the vehicle may take over and render me helpless? Sounds like a bad horror movie---Attack of the Killer Cars. Volvo is the leader in some of this with laser assisted brake assist that overrides the braking action of the driver.

Other features mentioned included parking assist, where the car will actually parallel park itself, and touch screen PCs in the dash with full internet and email functionality. If I meet the fool who decided this...

Now I love technology and anything that makes that easier, I am usually for. However, I believe that the lady who is eating her muffin, drinking coffee, doing her makeup, talking on the cell phone, reading a magazine, oh and driving too, is already occupied with enough. Imagine if she can blog while driving too? I have a feeling that the collision avoidance system will be getting used a bit to often.

Come on people. Many states have already banned talking on the cell phone while driving without a hands free device. There are billboards and commercials everywhere warning about the dangers of texting and driving. But now we want people to get weather, text, talk, email, check sport scores and stock prices, and watch a DVD all while trying to maintain some sort of directional control?!?! Sounds like someone was absent the day common sense was handed out.