Putting that car into a slot on the dashboard activates the electronics. Pushing a button starts the engine. In the future, the driver won't even have to take the card out of his or her wallet. The card and car will communicate automatically, presetting the mirrors, seat position and radio stations as well as starting the car. That technology becomes more useful as communities begin collecting and distributing traffic information, providing in-vehicle warnings of collisions and traffic slowdowns.
Radar systems can sense an impending collision and automatically apply the brakes.
A test program is under way, using a seven-mile stretch of freeway in San Diego. I'm not so sure. Vehicles will always be nothing more than appliances to some people, and driving merely a chore. For enthusiasts such as myself, a car or truck is not merely a conveyence from Point A to Point B but a precision instrument that stimulates the senses. The face of automotive retailing changed dramatically in 1998.