# Driving Thread {Posts pulled from What were you thinking thread} **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 14, 2026, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444 "2026-03-14T13:36:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/1 "2026-03-14T13:36:00Z")
This long conversation got going about driving, cars and other vehicles. Open Container laws also in here. > **[Open-container law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-container_law)** > > An open-container law is a law which regulates or prohibits drinking alcohol in public by limiting the existence of open alcoholic beverage containers in certain areas, as well as the active consumption of alcohol in those areas. "Public places" in this context refers to openly public places like sidewalks, parks and vehicles. It does not include nominally private spaces which are open to the public including bars, restaurants and stadiums. > An open-container law may also refer to the prohibition... ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/2 "2026-03-14T13:36:03Z")
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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/3 "2026-03-12T15:51:22Z")
> [@What were you THINKING?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6783): > > For whatever reason, Tesla cars seem to make otherwise rational people lose their minds. It is mostly a Musk thing I believe. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/4 "2026-03-12T15:58:16Z")
Sure but you’ll find very few Tesla owners, in particular here, who respect Musk or believe a thing he says. The same goes for the very active Tesla fora on reddit (excepting maybe the cybertruck one which had to be made private because it was trolled so hard). Like do the equivalent of separate the art from the artist when discussing the tech. It’s the constant posting of shit that is objectively false that annoys me. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/5 "2026-03-12T16:03:20Z")
Yeah, for a while, /r/cyberstuck was in my feed quite a bit, but the trolling was so bad on that sub even though it was already a shitposting sub that they had to make a rule that the posts had to be about cybertrucks that were damaged or “stuck” as it were and not just ugly or controversial ones. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/6 "2026-03-12T16:04:02Z")
ISTM they have a doctrinal belief that all automobiles are a devil’s invention that should be banned. On ecological grounds, safety grounds, and how they distort the design of cities grounds. IOW “If you can’t walk there or take a tram there, you have no business wanting to go there.” I wonder if a bad driver killed someone close to them. So of course US car culture, and especially pickup truck culture, resulting suburban to rural sprawl, and performance car culture all offend them to their very core. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/7 "2026-03-12T16:13:41Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Like do the equivalent of separate the art from the artist when discussing the tech. It’s difficult to discuss, because that distinction doesn’t exist in the same way as with art. Both these statements can be objectively true: Tesla FSD is amazing technology and has the potential to change the world positively. Tesla the company (and Musk) is rolling out this technology in dangerous ways driven by ideology and stock price demands. It’s fair to push back against objectively false information. But it’s not fair to say that those who complain about Tesla are driven solely by their hatred of Musk. He is driving the direction and implementation of this technology, so the two are intrinsically linked. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/8 "2026-03-12T16:21:21Z")
That’s all true and I think that we are in agreement. I certainly don’t think that people who dislike the tech are all just Musk haters. There are plenty of valid complaints and there have been some great discussions and not just limited to FSD. There have also been people who are too fucking stupid to realize that the windshield wiper controls are in the same exact place as every other car or make the claim FSD is “killing people” at a rate orders of magnitude greater than regular driving. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/9 "2026-03-12T16:24:31Z")
> [@What were you THINKING?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/6777): > > They are probably a reasonable person in real life in their milieu, but they are not American, hate pre-trump America, hate cars, hate US attitudes towards nearly everything but driving particularly, and especially hate what the USA has turned into. Also, they really hate all AI. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/10 "2026-03-12T16:27:10Z")
Yup, we agree. Well, I’m sure we disagree on specific points about that tech, but that’s OK. FWIW, I appreciate your posts on AVs and Tesla, and I think you’re one of the more objective posters about a topic it’s _really_ tough to be objective about. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/11 "2026-03-12T16:27:52Z")
The respect is very mutual. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/12 "2026-03-12T16:55:41Z")
-smells the air of mutual respect and reasonable disagreement- Ah, that’s the stuff. Bracing! ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/13 "2026-03-12T17:00:31Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > ISTM they have a doctrinal belief that all automobiles are a devil’s invention that should be banned. On ecological grounds, safety grounds, and how they distort the design of cities grounds. IOW “If you can’t walk there or take a tram there, you have no business wanting to go there.” I agree with this idea in principle. I don’t like driving, I never have. It probably comes from the fact that when I was in high school, and enrolled in a driving class, my parents were paranoid about letting me drive their car. They were convinced that their insurance didn’t cover it. Which I’m sure is paranoid bullshit, but my parents were frequently idiots, often at my expense. Anyway, that meant I could not practice at home like everyone else, and every time I was given a test I had to wing it because I hadn’t practiced, and often was doing whatever maneuver for the first time as part of the test. (Why my parents insisted I take this class and then not let me practice, I don’t know, just file it reason number 4,678 why they were shitty parents.) Anyway, somehow I actually got through that class and passed. But it was a nerve-wracking experience, and even after more than 30 years of driving a car almost every day, I still see driving as an unenjoyable, necessary evil. So I’d love to not drive places. But I have to, because I need to go to places that I can only reach by car. And I don’t see a reasonable alternative to that, so we are going to have cars for the foreseeable future. If someone wants to constantly rant and go off about that, tough shit, your desires are in conflict with reality, so get over it. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/14 "2026-03-12T17:16:46Z")
I despise driving. I also have never been a drinker so I am often the designated driver. In addition my hobby is live music (three shows a week on average) and that takes me from Santa Barbara to LA a couple of times a month. FSD has been a godsend and has dramatically improved my life. You better believe that I am paying attention the whole time but it is, for me, a small fraction of the mental effort as regular driving. I have no idea where the tech will end up but it is a certainty that it will improve dramatically over the next ten to twenty years and that will give elderly and disabled people significantly more freedom and less reliance on others. We can reasonably disagree on how good it is currently but to completely disparage the tech is insane. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/15 "2026-03-12T17:21:29Z")
I hate driving too. It often makes me a nervous wreck. That’s a task I’d off-load if I could. Though I would prefer public transportation infrastructure and being able to walk to my job and that sort of thing. But in the absence of that, yes, let a machine drive. I guess I’m assuming it’s loads safer. Probably safer than me. I’m a cautious driver but I have attention lapses and I presume an automated vehicle wouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/16 "2026-03-12T17:29:00Z")
Intuitively to me it seems significantly safer but it’s difficult to find data that’s trustworthy. It either comes from Tesla itself or bullshit hysteria from plaintiff’s attorneys or tech bloggers who are fanboys or other tech bloggers who are haters. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/17 "2026-03-12T17:33:05Z")
I like what techy things do. I’m not adept at using them. (But dammit, give me some written instructions and I can follow it.). Driving needs are just that “needs” in my life. I believe with the state of oil prices now, driving for funzies is on hold. Still, to each his own. Self driving cars are coming to be more and more. Just gotta deal. (Hey, where’s my jetpack the Jetsons said I would have by this time? 🚀) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/18 "2026-03-12T17:35:16Z")
My self driving car doesn’t use gasoline or get oil changes. 😎 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/19 "2026-03-12T17:45:30Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > (Hey, where’s my jetpack the Jetsons said I would have by this time? 🚀) I would rather have the flying cars they showed and even more so, Rosie the Robot to clean the house. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444/20 "2026-03-12T18:34:12Z")
I’d like to know stats on how much energy is consumed building the things and _arming_ them with all that tech. Don’t data centers use extensive water and power? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-thread-posts-pulled-from-what-were-you-thinking-thread/1028444.md?page=2)