My car has adaptive cruise control and automatic lane keeping. This doesn't allow me to ignore the road, though—far from it. It's not 100% accurate, which means I have to pay even closer attention to the road than usual.
But it does reduce stress by taking care of 98% of the driving, and it also allows me to take my eyes off the road for a few seconds with no danger of wandering across a lane. This is good for fiddling with the radio, opening a candy bar, or, best of all, taking pictures.
For example: On my way out to the desert on Saturday we had a beautiful sunset. Unfortunately, it was behind me since I was driving east. However, I was able to lean over, stick my camera out the passenger window, and snap a bunch of shots without worrying about taking my hands off the wheel for a few seconds. The fully articulating LCD screen also helped a lot with this.
It's possible you still don't approve of this. I don't blame you. But modern tech definitely makes it doable. Would you ever guess that this picture was taken from Interstate 10 near Redlands, not in a deserted spot somewhere on the Great Plains?

No. It does not.
Yes, it does.
Several years ago, I took my car to a dealer for service, and when it turned out they didn't have the part they needed to complete the work they gave me a loaner car to use overnight while they got the part to finish the job. It was my first experience with "lane keeping" and I was astonished. While paying complete attention to my driving (i.e., no candy bar unwrapping, etc.) I very deliberately took my hands off the steering wheel. The car tracked expertly down the center of the lane. Meanwhile, it reprimanded me--"Put your hands back on the wheel," it commanded me. I was impressed.
I prefer using the rumble strips on the side of the road.
😉
I endorse the "driving by Braille" method.
At least one hand on the wheel at all times. Lane keeping assist notwithstanding.
As long as your belly doesn't accidently turn the wheel...
Reminds me of the cartoon with a dog driving the car and his owner in the passenger seat. The owner tells the police officer “ it’s ok, I keep him on the leash the whole time”
It's not 100% accurate, which means I have to pay even closer attention to the road than usual.
But it does reduce stress by taking care of 98% of the driving, and it also allows me to take my eyes off the road for a few seconds with no danger of wandering across a lane.
Wtf. These sentences don't make sense together, unless you assume that nothing - not a errant pedestrian, not a car running a red light, not an animal wandering across the road, not a rock falling from a cliff, not a child's red ball that escaped a yard (which happened to 16-year-old me on my driver's test), nothing - will ever enter your lane while you're not paying attention "for a few seconds." That's a big assumption anywhere but apparently Orange County... but even Kevin admits he has to somehow "pay closer attention" while also snapping pictures out the side window.
With this blog as evidence, you should have your license revoked at your first accident.
"Which means I have to pay even closer attention to the road than usual."
Yeah, I don't understand how this makes any sense.
Here in Maine, you can get a very expensive ticket for taking a photo while driving.
Rightly so, too.
I'm not a big fan of self-driving cars, think they're a long way from being safe. I'm even less a fan of people who want to drive and do other stuff, too.
A couple-tons of moving stuff, slipping past neighborhoods, is not something to muck about with when you're responsible for it.
(And as someone who lives where there's stuff like ice and snow, I'll tell you that advancements beyond perhaps the automatic transmission have not made better drivers of any of us.)
I was out yesterday evening with visiting out of state family staying with me. We ended up at the Santa Monica Pier, the Pacific Palisades Fun Zone, which was fine, packed with people but what was important was seeing the future under pressing and difficult driving circumstances.
Which is to say I got my first glimpse of the driverless Waymo cars successfully navigating very tight traffic, making perfect left turns with thousands of pedestrians streaming across the street and traffic stuck but the Waymo vehicles still skillfully threading these tight needles. It was astonishing.
I was also intrigued and surprised to see these little red Robo delivery carts motoring up and down the sidewalks, again with thousands of tourists and people in their way.
I don't know how this is done and I'm not sure that I would be happy with my groceries being delivered in this fashion with everybody around as they were.
Again this also was astonishing with what they're doing with robotics. I've never seen Waymo before but I promise you the technology works. (BTW, now that I know what to look for, I've seen two additional Waymo cars navigating downtown Los Angeles traffic...it is unbelievable what Google is doing with Waymo...seriously, take my word for it...amazing). Traveller
Or you could pull over to the side of the road and take a picture at your leisure.
Human drivers suck, especially in the United States, where they're statistically a lot more deadly than their counterparts in other rich countries. Indeed, US motorists are a non-trivial driver of the country's flagging life expectancy.
Good on Kevin. Human drivers can't be taken out of the equation fast enough as far as I'm concerned.
When Kevin has a fully autonomous vehicle or a chauffeur to squire him around, he may take pictures to his hearts delight. Until then, at least one hand on the wheel at all times while in motion.
I dont like either of those. People pay less attention today to driving as it is, they don't need help. The auto lane is annoying. I drove a car with it and was constantly feeling resistance from the steering wheel. Although the way people drive lately, hugging one side of the lane or the other, this might help a driver like that.