GRA wrote:H'mm, I guess we really have become a nanny state, if riding alone in an autonomous car (once the bugs are worked out) constitutes child endangerment or abandonment (considering that both the kids and the car itself will undoubtedly have communications, and the car will automatically report problems).
If kids can get into trouble when left on their own at home, imagine what they could get into if left at home with a "transporter" which could take them anywhere.
GRA wrote:I thought the occasional news article I've read about parents being prosecuted for not only letting their kids walk or ride their bikes to school, but to do so alone, was an aberration, but apparently not. My generation apparently grew up in a near constant state of endangerment and abandonment from 1st grade on, yet somehow we survived our parents attempts to have us killed or be abducted and used as sex slaves. Oddly enough, telling us what to look out for and what to do in various circumstances, and then giving us as much responsibility as we could handle seems to have worked pretty well, even though we lacked cell phones so they could be in contact with us at every waking moment.
The change is that our government now assumes our children belong to them.
A year or so ago I witnessed an unfortunate event at an interstate rest area (in a rural area in VA). Soon after I arrived, I observed a state policeman removing (peacefully) a man from a car and handcuffing him. What I learned was that this man had been driving on the interstate with his young son, who looked to be about five years old. The man had been driving for a long while and was unable to stay awake, so he pulled into the rest area in the very early morning to sleep, perhaps at 5:00 AM. Apparently, after a couple of hours, the boy left the vehicle and went into the rest area facility. When other parents noticed the boy without a parent, they called 911.
If that's what happens when the father is right there, imagine what would happen at a rest area with no parent around.