Are you a good driver?

The human job of "driver" has outlasted roles like the knocker-upper, who rapped on windows to wake workers before alarm clocks, and the lamplighter, who tended gas lamps before electric ones took over. This episode traces how that could soon change, as robot drivers—starting from DARPA contests and Google's secret project—move from desert races to city streets, potentially making driving safer while upending jobs and urban space.

Early Dreams and DARPA's Desert Races

Self-driving cars have intrigued inventors since automobiles replaced sentient horses around 1900, which couldn't veer off cliffs like early cars might. Fears of job losses for horse-related workers (breeders, farriers, teamsters) and high death rates led to odd regulations like "red flag laws," requiring a flag-waver ahead of cars. Decades of innovations—licenses, seatbelts, highways—cut U.S. traffic deaths, though smartphones reversed gains; today, car crashes kill about as many as guns or opioids.