mmarshall

It may (?) also help some 90-year old people still get around on their own who are not (yet) in assisted-living places, don't really need to be yet, but have lost enough driving skills over the years that they probably shouldn't be driving themselves any more. I wouldn't say they are "stupid drivers" in the sense you are probably using the term, just too old and weak to have the vision, hearing, skills, reaction-time, etc.....that one needs to be safe behind the wheel.

There are some things the government can force and some they can't. With this one, we'll have to want and see. For example, I still remember the 1974 fiasco when DOT tried to mandate the no-start rule for auto engines unless seat belts were fastened. It was a mess. Drivers found they couldn't start their cars if they laid heavy packages on the front seat with them (or even the rear seat) because the seat-sensors thought they were persons sitting down and needed to buckle-up. Some drivers were fastening belts around packages, boxes, bags, pets........you name it......just trying to get the engine to start. Others just kept the belts fastened all the time and sat on top of them, so the starter would work anytime, losing valuable restraint in an accident. The public outcry was so loud and so fierce that DOT was forced to rescind the regulation in only six months.....virtually unheard of for a Government bureaucracy.

JDR76

That's almost all modern commercial airliners. Off the top of my head:

Boeing
737
747-8
767
777
787

Airbus
A320
A330
A350
A380

These all have some or full fly by wire, and/or electronic/software engine controls, and autopilot software. Commercial aviation has gotten safer, not more dangerous, with these technologies.

mmarshall

Not necessarily. Right now, as we speak, there is still an ongoing investigation into this latest crash in Southeast Asia as to whether the plane stalled in or near a thunderstorm, and if, during the stall, the computer did not disengage and/or allow the pilots to apply proper stall-recovery techniques (I am an ex-pilot myself). I won't comment any further, because the investigation is still ongoing.

JDR76

That's one incident. I stand by my comment. Statistically it's safer, not the other way around. Yes, incidents still happen, but in years past the incident rate was much higher.