The two bills that are circulating in the state legislature that effectively would ban autonomous, self-driving vehicles in the state not only are short-sighted, but they also will serve to perpetuate the carnage on our dangerous and deadly roads.
It is ironic that the Mass. legislature is setting up roadblocks to the implementation of a technological innovation that is sweeping across the country. Waymo already is operating in six cities with plans to expand into many more.
We in Massachusetts have always taken pride in embracing scientific achievements in the fields of tech and biotech, anchored by our world-class universities. But the legislature wants to prevent autonomous vehicles from coming to Mass. — really???
Self-driving cars are not the wave of the future — they already are here — and banning them would establish our state as a backwater that refuses to move forward as we approach the middle of the 21st century.
Even more significantly, self-driving vehicles are far safer than those operated by humans, and it’s not even close. Our highways and roadways are trails of death and destruction that kill 40,000 Americans each and every year (that’s more than 100 deaths per day, every day) and maim hundreds of thousands more, thanks to human operators who drive drunk, distracted, and negligently.
By contrast, Waymo’s accident and injury rate, based on millions of miles of real-world experience, is a small fraction of the human rate. In addition, a big plus for passengers — especially women — is that they do not have to contend with human operators (we’ll leave it at that).
As we have noted in the past, we were skeptical about Waymo until we used it extensively on a visit to San Francisco two years ago and became convinced of the safety of self-driving vehicles (which have the added benefit of being good for the environment because they are electric).
We understand that the ride-share human operators are worried about being replaced by the robots (which is ironic, because they displaced taxi operators 20 years ago).
But in our view, public safety should be the top concern of our public officials and should take precedence over everything else.
There’s still nothing like the Olympics
The Olympic Games, even in our age of cynicism, divisive social media, and AI, remains an event that is unparalleled in our world today.
We still get chills when we watch the opening ceremonies of an Olympics, and we did so once again when the great Andrea Bocelli was singing from the stadium in Milan as the Olympic Torch passed by.
The Winter Olympics have a special place in our hearts thanks to our youthful memories of heroes such as American figure skaters Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill, or the great French skier Jean-Claude Killy, who became the first international sports superstar in the age of mass media.
And who can forget the Miracle on Ice, when the 1980 men’s hockey team, captained by our own Mike Eruzione, defeated the heavily-favored Soviet Union en route to winning the gold medal, a feat that was labeled the top sporting achievement of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated?
Prior to 1990, the Olympic Games were a proxy for the Cold War between the Free World and the bloc of countries behind the Iron Curtain of Communism. Fortunately, those days are ancient history, and we can cheer for all of the athletes and celebrate their achievements regardless of what country they represent.
On the other hand, we still find ourselves rooting for Team U.S.A. Watching these young men and women, who have sacrificed so much to reach the Olympic stage, provides inspiration for all of us, especially when they are wearing the Red, White, and Blue.
We hope that all of our readers will be able to find the time to enjoy these 2026 Winter Olympics. They are with us for only a short two weeks, and will not be back for another four years.
Oh well….
Half the fun of being a fan of a team that has reached the Super Bowl is the build-up to game day. It’s two weeks of non-stop media coverage that eventually climaxes with all of the parties and get-togethers that fans and non-fans alike enjoy.
As one friend put it, “I’m really not a football fan, but I always have looked forward to the Super Bowl parties and getting together with friends.”
But the other half of the equation is the hope of your team winning it all.
So for Patriots’ fans this past Sunday, the outcome of the game was a real downer. The Pats never were really in it; they were outmanned in every respect by a superior Seattle team from the opening kick-off.
For long-time New England fans, the contest resurrected long-forgotten memories of the epic Super Bowl defeat to the Chicago Bears 40 years ago.
Only time will tell whether Drake Maye will be the Tony Eason — or the Tom Brady — of this generation.
Still, just getting to the Super Bowl proved to be quite a ride for Pats’ fans with the hope, despite Sunday’s final score, of better things to come in the years ahead.