Mandatory Automatic Braking For All!

I recently wrote about the Fading Away of the manual transmission (see here). As it turns out, I was wrong.

Manuals will not fade away.

They will be regulated out of existence.

Here’s how – and why.

Federal bureaucrats intend tomandate automated braking in all new cars – if the car companies don’t install these systems in every car they sell on their own initiative.

These systems – which use radar proximity sensors to detect the presence of an object in the car’s path and apply the brakes automatically if the driver doesn’t – are already in about a third of 2016 model year cars, but not yet force-fed to the public by government edict.

That’s about to change.

Obama’s transportation secretary, Anthony Foxx says “We are entering a new era of vehicle safety, focusing on preventing crashes from ever occurring rather than just protecting occupants when crashes happen.”

GM, Ford, Toyota, VW, Mercedes, BMW, and Volvo have already committed – on their own – to making automated braking standard equipment in all their models within the next few years. They have learned to love Big Brother. That it can be profitable to love Big Brother. “Safety” sells. Especially when you can’t say no to it.

The insurance mafia is also pushing this.

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