But what about pre-emption?

Cars once did as they were told by their owners – and no more. If you didn't want the doors to lock or the lights to come on they didn't – until you locked them or turned them on. You could spin the tires – and lock up the brakes – as you liked.

New cars take those choices away from you – like a parent schooling a child.

It is about to get much worse.

Volvo – which is not-coincidentally owned by the control-freak Chinese – intends to include an upgraded version of its "Volvo on Call" technology in its cars within the next couple of years. What it means is that your Volvo will make a call – about your driving. If the car doesn't like it – based on data gleaned from sensors which monitor how you drive – the car will slow itself down and park. Where you'll wait until the car decides to let you drive again.

Assuming it hasn't called the cops.