I have not spent much of my time talking on the phone while driving, but I’ve done it often enough to know that it is difficult. It’s obviously mandatory to focus on the driving but it’s really easy to wander and be using your mind’s eye and not your real eyes. But compared to looking at a screen and typing text messages on a tiny keyboard, it’s easy.

I remember commuting thru the Houston traffic on I-10 West from Katy when I lived there in the 1980’s. As I sat in my car on an 8 lane freeway at 0 MPH, I often had time to ponder what would make the highways more efficient. I decided there would have to be automation because these individual drivers were never going to be able to coordinate their efforts well enough do it alone. Twenty-five years later it would be called smart roads with smart cars.

I could never envision how all that would be paid for so I assumed it would not
happen during my lifetime. Maybe I was wrong. The way things are going, what finally might make young people want to pay taxes and/or tolls for smart roads and to pay extra for smart cars could be the desire of the drivers to talk/text while moving. It seems to be something some people cannot live without.