Backchannel: >Today, average Americans spend almost two of their eight hours at work paying off their car, which they need to get to that job. Last year in the US, more than 38,000 people died and 4.4 million were seriously injured due to motorized transport. Farther afield, in Singapore, 12 percent of the island nation’s scarce land is devoted to car infrastructure. In Delhi, 2.2 million children have irreversible lung damage because of poor air quality. > >Incredibly, we might actually get a chance at a do-over — of our cities, our fossil fuel dependence, and the social contract with labor — thanks to the impending advent of autonomous cars. Yes, their arrival is inevitable, but how they will impact us is yet to be determined. If you drive a car with a diesel engine, you can keep it running smoothly with complete diesel services.

The problem is, we humans are generally really bad at seeing the future, even when it is blindingly obvious. Self-driving and autonomous cars sound really fun, convenient and science fiction-y but we are ignoring the other side of the coin.