Imagine that we, as managers and parents, could decide what kinds of equipment would be in the vehicles our employees and children drive. Would the list include TVs, computer-like dashboards with many complex menus, and a portable phone booth? I think we’d place these on the Don’t Install list.
But I’ve got news for you: those items are being integrated into our vehicles today, and these choices are being made by — yes, you’ve got it — managers and parents. And while they are acceding to decisions by automakers who are fighting the battle to increase market share, they’re forgetting about the unintended consequences of all this ingenuity at the fingertips of their fleet drivers and our children.
Why do we modern humans ignore the Law of Unintended Consequences when formulating decisions like these? Most likely it’s because we live our lives under the sunny skies of “it won’t happen to me”. We allow ourselves to become blinded by the excitement of all the new things we can do with this electronic technology, rather than considering what could actually happen to us. Hey, I include myself in this mix.
And think about this: while each of us firmly believes “it won’t be me” who will crash his or her vehicle while playing with these technologies, we forget the possibility that “the other guy” may be doing the same thing and about to crash into us. After all, when was the last time you drove down a road in zero traffic ?
The prospect that another driver’s attention could be completely absorbed by one or more gadgets should scare the wits out of us all. And it should make us all feel equally insecure about sending our employees and children out onto the roadways to dodge all those “other guys”. You’re not even safe if you’re just walking on a sidewalk – distraction doesn’t make any exceptins.
I’m horrified ,but at the same time fascinated, that so many people find it acceptable to convert their vehicles into mobile entertainment centers, just because they can. To me, it’s as if everybody decided to take up bungee cord jumping because bungee cord manufacturers spent millions putting jump centers everywhere and on advertising to make it look like everybody just has to do it.
Frankly, I’m feeling less safe on the road with every announcement about some new entertainment feature available for our vehicles. The Law of Unintended Consequences is real. So is the Law of Averages. The more technology we admit into our vehicles, the sooner more of us are going become its potential posterchildren for them.