DRIVING takes a lot of concentration. Or it should, at least if you want to do it properly and safely; and you will want to drive as safely as possible, as the consequences of getting it wrong can be fatal.
Twice in the past week I've had to deploy my own super-concentration mode from behind the wheel; I mean stop motion animator levels of concentration, the sort of focused effort that Roald Dahl's Matilda used to tip a glass of water over Miss Trunchbull with the power of telekinesis.
The first occasion was navigating major road works in Letterkenny which, in combination with its associated diversions and stop-go men, were more complicated than trying to work out the latest Barnett consequentials and the appeal of All Round to Mrs Brown's.
There is, of course, always road works going on somewhere in Donegal - sometimes they are even signposted - but the Rosetta Stone would be needed to unlock the secrets of whatever is going on in Letterkenny at the moment; needless to say, despite my best efforts, we ended up taking what is politely known as the scenic route...
The second time my Swiss watchmaker levels of concentration were needed was while trying to drive through Belfast city centre.
I do this only rarely, as my traditional route to the Xanadu of the Irish News office means my main headache is wrestling with the M1 and Westlink, though that's another story.
But with unfamiliar bus lanes to contend with and the remaining unstolen Belfast Bikes whizzing about, circulating the City Hall was a frustrating experience.
I count myself a confident driver - all men do, even those who drive Fiat 500s... - but it was all a reminder that even for the experienced, driving is a complicated enough business.
That's why it makes sense that cars are getting safer. What doesn't make sense is why they are also getting more dangerous.
Buy a new car today and it will be laden with the sort of safety gadgets that were science fiction 20 years ago.
I count myself a confident driver - all men do, even those who drive Fiat 500s...
Lasers, radar, sensors and cameras constantly monitor the car's surroundings, and talk to computers under the bonnet which are also busy working out whether you are driving slowly or quickly, what the road surface is like and if you're about to hit that pedestrian or cyclist who isn't looking where they are going.
All this means that among other tricks, the car can stop, steer and drive itself - autonomous driving is more or less here already.
Steering wheels vibrate if you wander too close to the white line in the middle or at the side of the road - not so handy on Northern Ireland roads where the lines are often faded or non-existent - and a buzzer will sound if you're about to doze off; headlamps are better than ever, with LED and laser beams that can penetrate 600 metres and 'bend' around corners.
These active safety aids are complemented by clever construction methods which mean that if you are in a crash, the car won't fold itself around you and your passengers like a screwed up piece of paper but will do its best to keep you alive. Some cars even have bonnet airbags to help protect pedestrians and cyclists...
All of this means cars are safer than ever. Compare the crumpled cars pictured here for proof.
Of a similar size but separated by 20 years of safety development, the 1997 Rover 100 - a gussied up Austin Metro - is mangled by the same Euro Ncap crash test - a scheme driven forward by Max Mosley - that a 2017 Honda Jazz is designed to shrug off while protecting its occupants.
And while you will find all the best safety kit on the latest models from Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW and Volvo, the democratisation inherent in the car industry means something like the 2017 Volkswagen Golf can also be had with many of the same advances.
With all this good news for safety, what could possibly go wrong? Well, you could.
The driver is still the weak link in the chain. And while car-makers are giving us safer cars, they are filling them with toys to distract us.
We know that using a mobile phone while driving is a bad idea because it can make us lose attention.
But is it really any worse than trying to change radio station on a car where you need to dive into menus on a touchscreen to mute Hugo Duncan?
Car launches now, with some honourable exceptions, tend to be as much about 'connectivity' and 'infotainment' as they are about engineering and running costs.
Twitter and Facebook feeds can be beamed to your dashboard - and if that's not distracting, what is? - and some cars have a facility to allow you to take photographs and videos from a built in camera.
Turning your car into an extension of your social media profile doesn't seem to be a smart way of making things safer, not if we accept that we are already too easily distracted by mobile phones.
It underlines the fact that the greatest leap in road safety comes not from gadgets like automatic brakes and airbags, helpful though they are, but by drivers themselves taking the initiative, avoiding distractions and driving properly. Even in Donegal road works.