Clever

This car seems cleverer than me.

It certainly has more senses.

I have two eyes, the use of which is facilitated by windows and mirrors.

To augment this the car has several cameras, radars and ultrasonic sensors. Not to mention the inertial and orientation sensors, GPS positioning and monitoring of just about every moving part.

It can tell how close I am to static objects when I'm parking. The cruise control can automatically adjust to the speed of the car in front, even stopping and starting in congestion. Lights warn me when a car is in my blind spot. It reads speed signs and combines this with GPS data to display the current speed limit, even in temporary restrictions. It knows when I'm veering out of lane and tweaks the steering to stop me going over the lines unless I override it or indicate first. Of course, the engine stops when the car is stationary, and the parking brake is fully automatic.

In fact, it's so clever it's a smart-arse. I was trying out the lane assist mode earlier- (slowly, on a completely clear road. Well you would, wouldn't you? I let go of the wheel (hands right there to grab it again) and while steering to keep me in lane (yes, it works) it displayed (and spoke) a message saying "please keep steering the vehicle".

I get the impression that the car only lets me drive to humour me - it would probably be much safer without a driver behind the steering wheel...

I think I've just about got the phone, satnav and media player figured out now...