Are all people bad drivers? Technology gives diffusion of
responsibility. And business gives limited liability. Put them
together and you have magnified sense of agency and
invulnerability. But without wheels and a windshield people couldn't
travel at 100 miles an hour. The question is how gracefully the person
at the wheel handles that. Are you a gentleman in a Jaguar or a BMW
driver? [0]
It's not a question of how gracefully the person behind the wheel handles it. There is a certain moral expectation and minimum standard of handling, and this expectation is more often than not enforced by law and/or threat of civil suit, sometimes with severe penalties for deviating from expectation. That legal framework exists precisely because individuals cannot be trusted to handle it properly.
The natural set of incentives does not work well with human psychology. It does not prevent mishandling of motor vehicles, or at least fails to prevent it in enough cases that additional disincentives are needed, to ensure the safety of the public.
Stated another way: Enough people are bad enough drivers that we need laws and civil liability to create additional incentives against bad driving. The threat of collision, property damage, injury, or death to oneself, passengers, and people outside the vehicle is clearly not sufficient.
Driving is actually a great analogy, but maybe not for the reason you intended. If we relied only on individuals to act responsibly, the roads would be much more dangerous than they currently are.
Not sure we should stretch the car analogy too far, but you're right
about rules and regulations. Most people can be relied on to be
considerate, but that one percent of assholes ruin it for everyone.
From where I'm standing that one percent is basically American big
tech. Problem is, we have traffic lights, stop signs, speed limits,
and highway cops patrolling, but the big US corporations just drive
like assholes and get away with it anyway. In fact they're more like
terrorists that drive a truck into a crowd of people, and we all stand
around helplessly and wail... "what can be done?!"
Now, if this was a proper American tale, there would be a Blues
Brothers style 500 car chase, and at the last moment, just as the
bigtechmobile is about to jump the unfinished bridge Dukes of Hazard
style, Bruce Willis swoops down in an Apache attack helicopter and
blows them off the map!
oops I think I've stretched the car analogy too far.
[0] https://www.fastcompany.com/90457589/science-proves-it-men-w...