Bad Drivers & Self-Driving Cars

Didi & Lital are joined by their kids Ron and Leia, starting with reactions to the Jaylen Brown trade, which they argue reflects ownership-driven, analytics-obsessed decision-making that ignores entertainment value. The conversation shifts to how people measure the wrong outcomes, using a podcast on the stereotype “Asians are bad drivers,” where fatalities per mile show Asians have the lowest death rates, prompting debate over whether safety outcomes match everyday “bad driving” annoyances and traffic impacts. They then discuss Waymo and self-driving tech, noting Boston and New York resistance tied to unions and politics, while highlighting benefits for disabled and blind riders and claims that autonomous vehicles are significantly safer than humans. They compare tech disruption to containerization and self-checkout, discuss compromises like retraining and early retirement, and touch on public fear of rare autonomous crashes, liability, and lobbying.   Topics 01:01 Jaylen Brown Trade Shock 03:17 Analytics Versus Entertainment 06:38 Swift Kelce Wedding Rumor 09:26 Measuring the Wrong Things 10:02 Bad Drivers and Outcomes 15:53 Traffic Costs and Flow 19:00 Self Driving Cars Arrive 20:09 Boston Pushback on Waymo 22:08 Unions vs Waymo 23:33 Accessibility Case 24:43 Safety Data Debate 25:31 Teamsters Compromise 29:40 Automation Jobs Shift 33:24 Right to Drive 38:31 Control and Politics 40:33 Rare Crashes Liability 44:05 Lobbying and Wrap Up 45:38 Podcast Farewell