On the one hand, government rigidly persecutes "speeders" on the basis (so it is claimed) that driving faster than a number on a sign might increase the chances of having an accident. This being unsafe and hence "speeding" being illegal.

On the other, it gives the green light to Tesla racketeer Elon Musk to sell cars that encourage the driver to take not just both hands but also both eyes off the road – trusting in the infallibility of Tesla's technology.

People have died as a result of this – which isn't very safe.

With more to come, inevitably.

Inevitably, because technology – like the human beings who create it – is fallible. Things break, stop working. Or they don't work exactly the way we were told they would.

Especially things controlled by a computer.

How reliable is your desktop PC? And it just sits on your desk. Do you like the idea of a PC being in charge of your car – your life –  at 70 MPH?

The government does.

Understanding motives – as opposed to stated reasons  – will help you understand policies that seem on the face of it idiotic or at least inconsistent. If "safety" truly is the object of everything the government does to us – for our own good, of course – then the government would never have allowed Musk to use public roads to Beta test his auto-driving technology, with you and me in the role of guinea pigs.

But "safety" is not the end goal. It is the excuse.