Autonorama: The Illusory Promise of High-Tech Driving

What one has here is an unabashed polemic, showing how the current supposed automotive great leap forward is only the latest in a line of supposed technological utopias that proclaim a new era of safe and efficient driving, but which turn out to be highly overrated. I personally know that I've been highly skeptical of the current claims that truly "smart" cars are just over the horizon, particularly when it'll just be an excuse to take the steering wheel out of hand of drivers (I personally enjoy driving, thank you); not to mention representing a golden opportunity for the automotive industry of gouge "subscription" fees out of car buyers for electronic features. In any case Norton has done the general public a service by calling show more attention to an old party trick of the car industry.

A little less good is Norton's take on urban congestion and cars, and yeah, there's no denying that we've reached peak automotive congestion in our cities and peak sprawl; both conditions being unsustainable. What I don't see is any admission in this book regarding the political and social attitudes that led to this state of affairs, as affluent White America turned its back on urban living. Also, I did enjoy bike riding as an avocation before my knees basically gave out, and the reality is that, speaking of the Greater Washington Area, the weather is too unpleasant most of the time to justify commuting by bike to work; unless you're young, fit and your boss doesn't mind you looking like a slob all day. Norton really likes bicycles and really likes the Netherlands; it'll be some time before a significant chunk of the United States looks like the Netherlands.

None of the above negates the main theme of this extended essay. show less