On top of everything else he’s inflicted on the world, Elon Musk has just unveiled the Tesla Roadster, an airborne vehicle that accelerates from standing to 97km/h in less than one second, not a pothole in sight.
asserted
that → inflict → sight
With awesome built-in screen options and no self-driving capacity, the Roadster is not, the trillionaire admits, “necessarily a safety-optimised car”.
asserted
trillionaire → build → options
As if we’re not already having enough trouble driving safely on terra firma.
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we → have → firma
Musk, who has talked about having Asperger’s syndrome and an attention disorder, probably doesn’t do much driving himself, and might (or might not) know that brain drift and cars are a worsening contemporary combo.
uncertain
drift → talk → driving
At a time when a motor vehicle is the most dangerous instrument most of us handle or trust others to handle, we are also plunging into a crisis of inattentiveness.
asserted
we → handle → inattentiveness
So while we’re still Earthbound, let’s be down to earth about the facts.
asserted
’s → ’re → facts
Inattention is becoming public enemy number one on Australian roads.
asserted
Inattention → become → roads
After decades of decline, road fatalities have risen in each of the past four years, according to the federal transport department.
uncertain
fatalities → rise → department
“Distracted driving”, in a 2024 Griffith University survey commissioned by the Australian Automobile Association, accounted for 16 per cent of accidents, and using a phone while driving was found to decrease reaction time by 18 per cent.
asserted
using → commission → cent
According to a 2022 Victorian survey of 2403 drivers, 52 per cent used their handheld mobile phone to interact with an app, make or receive a call, email or text while driving.
uncertain
cent → accord → call
Insurer Allianz has presented new research suggesting that inattention has been drastically underestimated as a cause of accidents.
asserted
inattention → present → accidents
Researching data going back to the 1990s, it has suggested that distraction is responsible for as many as 33 per cent of accidents, rather than the reported 1.4 per cent.
uncertain
distraction → research → cent
Up to two-thirds of drivers involved in crashes said distraction had been a factor.
asserted
distraction → involve → crashes
Three-quarters of the 1200 drivers surveyed by Allianz said in-car technology had become more distracting in recent years.
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technology → survey → years
Who hasn’t been hit or nearly hit by someone who, while wielding two tonnes of fast-moving metal, is on their phone?
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who → hit → phone
I’ve been rear-ended by a driver who was viewing me through their windscreen as the second or third window in a multi-screening exercise.
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who → end → exercise
My brother was nearly killed by such a driver.
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brother → kill → driver
Our roads are, increasingly, populated by an army of Messrs Magoo with lethal weapons.
asserted
roads → populate → weapons
And that’s not counting the brain-fogged pedestrians who wander onto a road while absorbed in their phones, or those who forget even to press a crossing button and may, like Robinson Crusoes, still be stuck on their traffic islands years later, oblivious.
uncertain
who → count → islands
Distraction at the wheel can mean death.
asserted
Distraction → mean → death
Speed camera warning signs are a good thing because, unlike hidden radars, they target inattention.
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they → hide → inattention
If you’re distracted enough to miss three big roadside signs, you may be more of a menace to others than a fully focused driver going 55km/h in a 50km/h zone.
uncertain
you → distract → zone
Together, speed and distraction multiply the danger.
asserted
speed → multiply → danger
Inattentive driving is increasingly being recognised and punished – if it is defined by handling a phone.
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it → recognise → phone
I’ve been fined for holding my phone while driving.
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I → fin → phone
Fines for touching your phone, ranging from $410 to $1251 in Australian states, were issued to 330,926 drivers in 2024 (compared with 3.3 million speeding fines and 57,801 positive random breath tests).
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Fines → touch → fines
Yet there is an enormous gap in our rules, as I found recently when I hired a rental car with the latest screen technology.
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I → be → technology
It wasn’t just that the car’s inbuilt screen was unfamiliar, confusing and hard to understand, let alone operate.
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screen → understand → ?
It wasn’t just that the screen responded grudgingly, if at all, to my baby-soft fingers.
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screen → respond → fingers
It wasn’t just that the screen had a habit of speaking Chinese.
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screen → have → Chinese
It wasn’t just that, when I connected my phone to make things easier, the screen basically became my phone, complete with email, text, music and other apps.
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screen → connect → email
The yikes thing was that tapping this screen while driving, faffing about with navigation, phone calls, radio, podcasts and what-all else, is legal.
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tapping → tap → navigation
When it comes to attentiveness and screens, our laws trail dangerously behind reality.
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laws → come → reality
Under Rule 299 of the NSW Driving Rules, a driver isn’t allowed to see “a television receiver or visual display unit”, but other kinds of screens are OK.
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kinds → allow → screens
This rule assumes that watching TV is the only dangerous visual distraction.
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watching → assume → TV
Also, the visual display unit becomes legal when it “is an integrated part of the vehicle design”.
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it → become → design
So distractions that are hazardous if on your device suddenly become safe if they’re built into the car.
asserted
they → become → car
Under Rule 300, meanwhile, you can touch your mobile phone if it’s in a holder.
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it → touch → holder
Touching an “integrated part of the vehicle design” is permitted.
asserted
Touching → touch → design
This is strange and illogical, assuming as it does that the devil only works through your busy hands, and not your eyes or ears.
asserted
devil → assume → hands
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
