During the first part of the 20th century, when comparisons were still being made between the advantages and disadvantages of horse-drawn vehicles vis-à-vis automobiles, it was noted that one of the advantages of a horse and buggy was that a well-trained horse could find its way home without assistance from the driver. Or, to put a more contemporary gloss on it, it was comparatively easy to multi-task when driving a horse and buggy. One simply tied up the reigns and sat back and enjoyed the ride or engaged in some other activity (like spooning) while moving through the countryside, without much danger of doing harm to oneself, one's passenger(s), or others on the road.

Such multi-tasking was nearly impossible in most early automobiles. Pioneering gasoline and steam cars were complicated pieces of machinery that required constant mechanical attention, or at least monitoring, by the driver. The necessity of manipulating multiple pedals, shifting gears, and steering a heavy piece of machinery required that one pay constant attention to the challenge of driving an automobile.

However, by the 1920s, driving had become much more manageable. Thanks to mechanical improvements, it was no longer a task that required the sustained coordination of eye, hand, and ear. And, as if in response to that change, the first car radios made their appearance. Although little noted at the time, this event fundamentally changed the nature of the driving experience. Available as an option by the late-1920s, the car radio introduced for the first time an "invisible passenger" capable of spontaneously broadcasting music, news, and sports, any of which could divert one's attention from the road, and thus posing a potential threat to safety.

However, it is unlikely that car buyers who elected to purchase car radios over the next two decades saw it as a dangerous device. Quite the contrary, it was an attractive option that was often believed to be worth the extra cost, and thus, by 1949, half the cars sold in the United States were equipped with radios. Auto radios were later supplemented by tape decks and then CD players, broadening the range of words and music that could fill the interior (and sometimes exterior) of an automobile. While there was some fear that these devices might distract the driver and cause an accident, they were delivering essentially passive entertainment and, thus, required little attention from the driver other than changing stations or tracks, or inserting or removing a tape or CD.

Within the last decade, however, with the advent of the mobile/cell phone and the more complex handheld personal digital or data assistants (PDAs), we have entered a new era of communications technology, one that is interactive and requires an ability to multi-task that may, or may not, be beyond the ability of today's drivers to handle safely. Old Dobbin would safely find his way home irrespective of where our minds were or what our hands were doing; not so, the 21st century motor car.

While not technically an automotive "option", mobile/cell phones have become so ubiquitous in cars that they might be viewed as such. It seems as if motorists have come to view the act of driving as an unrewarding waste of time, the use of which could be better spent if one could also conduct business or communicate with friends and family on their mobile/cell phone or PDA.

Not surprisingly, the number of car accidents directly attributable to the use of mobile/cell phones has skyrocketed. While undoubtedly physically holding a phone is potentially more dangerous than the various "hands-free" alternatives, the fact remains that a person speaking on the phone is not as likely to be paying as much attention to the road as one who is not. A recent news item indicates that the invisible passenger may be on the verge of intruding on even more of the driver's senses. It has been reported that motorists have begun to use the multifunctional PDA for text messaging, using their knees for steering and, one has to assume, believing that visually seeing the road was unnecessary as their thumbs typed out reply messages. For many of us, the art of defensive driving has become more of a challenge than it was in the past, and is likely to become more so in the future.

As automotive historians, we should be concerned about these developments for two reasons. First, we probably have an obligation to see to it that as new forms of communication and entertainment are introduced into the car that the mode of transportation we cherish is responsible for fewer, not more, accidents. Second, the love of driving, which has been undermined over the years by the advent of technologies that separate man from his machine, seems to have been dealt another blow. The high-tech car of today has created a vacuum of sorts in the driver's seat, one that has both welcomed and encouraged the type of multi-tasking that the mobile/cell phone and PDA represent, and that presents a threat not just to safety, but to the passion for driving itself.

- Mike Berger, SAH President