The airbag: Can our cars ever be totally safe?

We all knew it would happen, we just weren’t expecting it to be so soon: someone has died in an accident while his car took care of the driving. Auto­nomous cars have got big manufacturers tripping over each other in the race to be the first to bring self-driving technology to the masses, but this death, in the United States, wasn’t caused by a Google car or an experimental Volvo – it was a ­Tesla Model S.

The driver was allegedly watching a Harry Potter movie when the crash happened, which shows how much faith many of us put in technology, but as Tesla boss Elon Musk has been at pains to point out for some time now, humans need to still be responsible, no matter how clever their car is.

Industry pundits are rallying to the defence of driverless technology, saying it will still save more lives than it claims. And we’re still a few years away from it becoming the norm rather than the exception. But no computer is completely fail-safe, and one day an accident like this will happen again – a miscalculation or computer malfunction that will cause harm.

No matter how safe manufacturers try to make their vehicles, however, there will always be someone out there who actually wants a bit of danger; thrill-­seeking adrenaline junkies for whom life really isn’t worth living unless they feel like they’re “on the edge”.

Look no further than hard-core bikers, who put their lives in the balance all over the world on track and public roads. I have spoken to many about their addictions, and it’s quite simple: being in danger is the biggest thrill.

This isn’t limited to enthusiasts of two-wheeled machinery, either. I personally know of three people who have been killed while driving Porsche 911 GT2s. For those unfamiliar with the model, it’s a turbocharged, rear-engine car with staggering performance potential and very little in the way of electronic driver aids. Huge amounts of power are sent to the rear wheels only, which have the weight of that engine over them. Get the GT2 sideways or similarly out of shape, and you will need to be on an empty aircraft runway to rein it back in. Yet enthusiasts love them, the animalistic, savage power delivery, the wayward handling and, yes, the fact that it’s a difficult, dangerous car to drive.

It’s the same story with other manufacturers, too. ­Lamborghini’s cars are, in the main, four-wheel drive, but every now and then a rear-wheel drive variant will come along to appeal to enthusiasts – and they sell out overnight. But the company has ruled out producing an Aventador without permanent four-wheel drive, because it knows people would die if it did.

So as automated technology continues its inexorable march, will we ever be totally safe in any car? Of course not – there will always be too many variables for every situation to be accounted for by a computer. Danger will always be omnipresent and, apparently, that’s just how some of us like it.