Not too long ago breathless news anchors and brassy newspaper headlines proclaimed the arrival of driverless cars. Google got the OK to produce and test cars that could safely drive through streets guided by a computer. The human was along for the ride. Without humans behind the wheel, driving would be safer and all sorts of deadly encounters between automobile and other objects would end. Driverless safety would save tens of thousands of lives each year.

A number of technologists confidently predict all of this will come to pass in the not-too-distant future. Technology, they say, will make traveling safer. It will not be the first time. From the advent of cowcatchers on trolley cars to padded dashboards, seatbelts and antilock brakes in cars, technology has made driving an automobile or riding a train safer and faster. Technology still offers needed solutions.

The questions are, in some cases, whether we can afford them or whether we are willing to pay for them. In others, the questions center on what needs to be done and how do we get there.

A good example of the first problem is installation of cable guard rails on Del. 1. Most of the highway from I-95 to Dover Air Force Base is separated only by a grassy median. Recent accidents have resulted in death when automobiles crossed the strip and crashed head-on into oncoming cars. One solution would be to erect cable guard rails between the two sides of the highway. It has been done in spots to great effect. However, the cost is large. Federal grants paid for the portions of the highway that were cabled. Is the cost absolutely prohibitive? No. But it would involve sacrifice. We cannot depend on the federal government to jump in and pay the bill. Are we willing to raise the tolls on the road to push the cost onto users? Considering the negative reaction to a tax on gasoline to help pay for other highway repairs, our guess is that we would rather put up with the occasional accident than pay for cable guard rails.

Another ongoing debate is the potential problem of train safety when it comes to crude oil transportation. A group of state legislators is trying to pin down what would be needed from first responders and to determine other safety concerns involving the mile-long trains hauling crude oil across Delaware. The legislators are right to look into the needs and possible solutions even before real trouble arises.

Someday, the futurists tell us, the automation of the driverless car will render debates like these unnecessary. That "someday" will do us no good in the meantime. We still have to use the technology we have to make travel safer today.

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