News and Views From my kids accomplishments, to my heretical perspective of the world

We drove from Tempe to San Dimas in southern California today in the new Honda Accord. The automatic features were very helpful.

ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) is great. You can set your cruising speed, and as you approach cars from behind it will adjust your speed to keep a safe distance. This is getting to be fairly common; my 2011 Acura MDX had this feature, and I loved it then too.

LKAS (Lane Keeping Assist System) is new to me. This is the first year it’s been available in an Accord.

LKAS worked surprisingly well. If the lanes are well marked the car steers a straight path right down the middle of the lane, allowing the driver (me!) to relax. I found myself looking out the window at scenery more than I usually would, or turning to talk with Gisele, or paying closer attention to the radio. I could take both hands off the wheel to take the cap off my water bottle. It took a while before I really started to trust it, but it was pretty reliable.

There were a few quirks:

– Going around tight curves it tends to hug the outside of the lane. It never went outside the lane, but it got close, so I learned to help it out a little and keep it closer to the middle.

– As night fell we came to a stretch where the lines were poorly marked and the reflective lane markers were spread pretty far apart, and the LKAS had trouble seeing the lane. I actually had to steer the car part of the time!

– Where freeway exits are not dotted along the edge, the car would sometimes try to split the difference between the lane and the exit, kind of pointing at the gore. However, this wouldn’t last long before it would either re-find the lane, or warn me that it had lost the lane and ask me to take over.

– The worst part is that it would only function for 15 seconds at a time if I didn’t move the wheel a little to show I was still there. It would beep, and then shortly after turn off LKAS. I started to get in the habit of keeping one hand resting on my knee, lightly wiggling the steering wheel to keep it active.

This is a good glimpse into the future of driving. I expect the technology to improve every year until eventually we really have self-driving cars. Tesla is pretty close now to self driving on the freeways, though it can’t drive around town by itself like the experimental Google car can.

I don’t plan to ever buy another car that doesn’t have at least this level of automation.

Doesn’t that make you feel good? I’ve called you “loyal”, and that word has all sorts of good connotations. You are trustworthy, you won’t desert your friends, you are honorable.

Frequently in bills from a cable, insurance or other company, they thank me for being a “loyal customer”. Look how honorable I am! I’m loyal, I’m not fickle! Through good times and bad, despite temptations and high costs, I stick with my friends… er, companies.

It’s a very transparent ploy to make me feel good about myself for using their company. But actually, I like to think that I stay with a company just as long as the hassle of changing is greater than the benefit of changing. There’s no dishonor in choosing a different company. You can bet that if I had trouble paying my bills the companies would not hesitate to be disloyal to me! And companies often offer discounts that only apply to new customers. Where’s the loyalty in that?

I think the same concept applies to sports teams. I am not ashamed to be a “fair weather fan”. I haven’t watched a Phoenix Suns game all year. It’s no fun, they stink! (I’d much rather watch the Warriors.) Just because they are located in a city near mine, I should support them? Athletes come from all over the country, most of them have only been here for a year or two and will have no loyalty to this city once they get traded to another team. I’ve never met any of them. Owners make lots of money, get the taxpayers to pay for arenas, and would not hesitate to move to another city if they thought they could make more money there. Look at all the football teams moving or trying to move this year.

In social or familial settings, loyalty clearly has value. You can trust me, I can trust you. If one of us has problems, the other will come to help. The concept gets distorted and perverted when it is applied to companies or sports teams where it is not a reciprocal relationship. So stop calling me your loyal customer, and yes, I’m proud to be a fair weather fan. Make the games fun to watch, and I’ll watch.