Self-Driving Cars in Lower Manhattan = Insanity

Self-driving cars are, like the Internet and most technology we use these days, probably inevitable. After all, who wouldn't like to have a car that can drive and park itself, freeing its riders from the hassles behind the wheel? I'm an awful driver so this is a technological development I welcome!

So the world turns.

That said, there's a long way to go before self-driving cars become an every-day reality and it'll require lots and lots and lots of testing. What does testing means? It means that these test cars will have to drive around and crash before they can become safe for regular drivers. So, if you were a company developing these cars, where would you test them? Perhaps in a place where they couldn't do much structural damage or stall or, you know, kill people. Perhaps a low-population, low-density area like ... Lower Manhattan???

Yes, it turns out that GM -- you know, that car company that almost went out of business until taxpayers bailed them out? -- is planing to do just that. They want to start testing their self-driving prototypes in Lower Manhattan next year. This is dumb and dangerous and Mayor De Blasio is, rightly, strongly against the idea. Testing these cars in that environment is madness and he's vowing the stop it.

So who gave these cars the metaphorical and literal green light? Governor Cuomo -- oh, and the state Department of Motor Vehicles didn't alert the city Department of Transportation before approving this. Instead, they sent out this nasty, self-defensive missive when De Blasio vowed to stop this: "The mayor can do whatever he wants but the city is subject to state jurisdiction ... We understand that the mayor's taxi industry donors don't like it, but it is the future and all states are exploring it.” So instead of addressing the concern the state attacks the mayor personally and throw its authority in our face. Oh, and GM contributed to Cuomo's campaign funds. Yeah, the statement didn't mention that. 

Something is rotten about this -- it's all corrupt. This must be stopped! No self-driving car tests in Lower Manhattan! Or else the state, and not the city, will literally have blood on its hands.