A dozen of you asked me this in one week. No, your mother does not need a self-driving car. Nobody sells one anyway.
No car for sale drives itself, friend. Not even the one with Full Self-Driving on the window sticker. Don’t buy your mom the car. Set up the rides on her phone instead. Ten minutes, tops.
🤯 WOW! A Tesla with Full Self-Driving is not a self-driving car. Federal regulators say no vehicle sold to Americans today drives itself, and Tesla’s own fine print calls the driver legally responsible every second. Turn it on with your mom behind the wheel, and she is still the driver.
The Short Version: Don’t buy her the car. Buy her the rides, set up on her phone, with the trip shared to yours. Steps below, and they work anywhere in the country.
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“Kim, I’ve been thinking about getting my mother a self-driving car, maybe a Tesla. This way, she can take herself to the store, doctor and have some independence. What do you think about this idea?” — Brett
Brett, you’re in good company. A dozen people asked me this question in the past week, including a dear friend of mine. So let’s settle it.
You’re not shopping for a car. You’re shopping for a way to stop worrying. Good son. Bad plan.
🚘 What is self-driving anyway?
No car you can buy drives itself. NHTSA is blunt about it, and Tesla agrees in the paperwork.
“Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” is a Level 2 driver assist, $99 a month, and the person behind the wheel is legally responsible every second. The operative word is “supervised.” Your mother would still be driving.
Cars that truly drive themselves are real. You just can’t buy one.
Waymo lists its cities at waymo.com/rides. If Waymo runs where she lives, set up the app at the kitchen table.
The Waymo One app goes on her phone, her account, her card. When the car arrives, she taps Unlock, then Start Ride. Show her the two buttons that matter: Pull Over ends the trip, Support puts a live person on the speaker. Then take one practice ride together.
🚕 Buy the rides, not the ride
Here’s another idea. It works in every ZIP code.
- Set up a senior account. In the Uber app, invite Mom to your Family profile. She gets bigger text, fewer buttons, saved places. You book her rides, follow the trip live and pay with your card. Lyft Silver is the same idea.
- Save three places. Home, the pharmacy, the doctor. Then a ride is two taps, not a tutorial.
- Ask for Uber Assist. Drivers are trained to help with walkers and wheelchairs.
- No smartphone? No problem. She calls 833-USE-UBER from any phone, 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET, and an operator books it. GoGoGrandparent does the same with Uber and Lyft for about 27 cents a minute.
- Check her Medicare Advantage plan. Some cover rides to appointments outright. Eldercare.acl.gov finds free and low-cost senior rides in her town.
AAA says owning a new car runs $12,863 a year. That buys a lot of rides, and nobody has to have the awkward Keys Conversation.
Your mom doesn’t need a self-driving car, Brett. She needs a ride that never calls in sick, never asks to borrow the car and never once comments on her driving. Now that’s auto-mated love.
📩 Send this to someone worried about a parent still driving. This is that conversation, minus the argument.