There are all kinds of cars and pickup trucks on the market. Of course, the average American can’t really afford to buy a new vehicle anymore.

Many cars purchased now have payments of as much as -- if not more than -- a typical monthly house payment.

I always said if I paid $50,000 for a vehicle, I would have to live in it, because I couldn’t afford a monthly mortgage, too.

And with the soaring price of gas and diesel, consumers are priced right out of the market.

Add that to problems including massive recalls recently by Toyota, Chevy and other cars makers, and it makes one wonder what is out there and how safe the vehicles really are.

To attempt to lure prospective car buyers back onto lots, a new batch of vehicles is in production with technology and features that boggle the mind.

Automakers are working hard on projecting the future of transportation, and from everything I’ve read it looks like vehicles will be more computercontrolled than human-controlled.

And with as much human error as drivers have, that might not be a bad thing. But I’m not sure I want to hear a robot-controlled voice telling me which way it is turning my vehicle while I sit in the passenger seat with my eyes closed and fingers squeezing the dashboard, reminiscent of my reaction when teaching my sons how to drive.

Voice-activated cars, customized dashboards, autopilot and “accident proof” technologies once were considered the wave of the future, but they all may be a reality in the not-too-distant future.

Much of the technology is geared toward alerting cars about possible collisions. That sounds like a good thing. Anything to signal drivers about pending road hazards is a plus in my book.

There is talk of radar-equipped vehicles to alert drivers when it is safe to change lanes, or infrared cameras that help drivers navigate safely through fog.

Wow, it is mind-boggling to think where the technology could lead 25 years from now.

Of course, a quarter-century ago, no one would have believed every car would be equipped with a compact disk player and Sirius radio, or that many would operate with a directional navigation system.

But no matter what, I believe a parent’s experience in teaching a teenager to drive will never change, regardless of the technology a vehicle has.

Teaching my kids to drive was a nerve-racking experience. Even after they successfully passed their test and got a license, I was reluctant to turn them loose.

When my younger son, Zach, got his license at 16, I hated to turn over the wheel to him. He begged me all the way home from the Department of Motor Vehicles office to let him drive.

I finally acquiesced at our community mailbox -- about 100 feet from our house. Zach wasn’t satisfied, but each day I gave him a little more freedom behind the wheel. I bet it was a full year or so before I “willingly” let him go to Killeen by himself.

And yes, Zach, I know you drove there even before I gave you permission. You only think you pulled the wool over my eyes. There are lots of things you think I don’t know you and your brother did. But, oh, I do.

We’ll save those goodies for another column.

Lisa Carnley is managing editor of the Lampasas Dispatch Record.