Baby, you can tweet my car

REARVIEW:HUMAN BEINGS are amazing creatures. They've come up with incredible inventions over the millennia, from wheels to telephones to space stations. That said, some pretty insane ideas have graced inventors' scribble pads. The tweeting car has to be up there with them.

But the difference between it and other bizarre wheezes like nuclear hand grenades or inflatable dartboards is that someone has decided to spend piles of money on its production.

Ford is currently planning to offer hands-free tweeting. Digital voices will read out tweets to motorists as they drive. In future, they’re hoping voice recognition systems can be developed to allow drivers to dictate their own tweets. Ford is not alone. Other car makers are equally committed to this quest for connectivity. Soon we’ll all be driving around in mobile internet cafes.

As is we weren’t distracted enough.

Personally, I find driving pretty engaging. Piloting a lump of metal and plastic at speed without being killed is more than enough to keep me interested. But then, I don’t have the attention span of a goldfish. Sadly, zillions do – which is why car firms are engaged in this scramble to develop ever more gizmos to give their wares the edge in an increasingly cut-throat market.

While no one has ever accused car companies of being ethical, they have a certain responsibility. The more technology in a car, the less drivers pay attention to the road. This emphasis on gadgets is a tacit encouragement by car firms for drivers to engage in dangerous behaviour, when they should be doing the opposite. Instead of kicking against these distractions, they’re shoving them under our noses.

What’s wrong with just producing cars that do what cars are supposed to do – namely get people from A to B in one piece? I fear for society, I really do.