[interstitial]

Road trips with multiple cars were down right dangerous. Cars weren't as reliable back then, and you could never tell if one car had disappeared from a flat or car trouble. Meeting points, pulling over, middle men for pay phone tag. The CB radio did change things -- watch movies from the CB era and you see the rise of information exchange.

Today you can still have a car chase on the I-70 in the middle of Utah and the cell phone won't matter to your plot, no reception, no gas either. Just need to change your setting.

[msvan]

But when we get self-driving cars this avenue will disappear as well. Technology will de-dramatize our lives.

[was_hellbanned]

I experienced plenty of drama when my rear wheel began to tear itself apart riding out of Cambria, CA, or when a rear flat turned out to be the sidewall disintegrating 60 miles out of San Francisco. Bicycle touring will give you all the drama you could desire. Meanwhile, I'd love the predictability of entirely automated transport in my daily life.

[InclinedPlane]

Hardly. It'll just change the drama to something more meaningful. It used to be dramatic just to get news across continental distances, but when that stopped being the case it didn't exactly cause an end to drama in the world.