I’ll admit to being guilty of what I’m about to trash, then I reformed. I thought then that I was ahead of my time. Now, I’m thinking maybe not. Here’s the story:

A few years ago, after one swerve to many during my then daily 2-hour commute, I stopped using my mobile phone to talk or text behind the wheel. Not that I didn’t use a hands-free earpiece and not that I was impaired or suffer from poor reflexes, but I decided that death and dismemberment just ain’t worth it. Last year the zeitgeist seemed to be catching up with legislation pending to outlaw the practice; some talking of installing jammers to prevent it. But something happened.

Flash-forward to CES, the annual tech-lust-fest going on in Las Vegas this week and the media is full of breathless reports about car makers’ move to the fourth screen: your car dashboard. Gimmie a break!

ZDNet reports that “…with Sync Ford is opening up millions of possible revenue streams, thanks to the wealth of services that the company can offer to the driver/consumer with Internet connectivity.

Ford CEO Mulally stressed during his keynote speech here at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, noting the company’s “four principles” — quality, safety, fuel efficiency and “smart” technologies — and how Touch and Sync work to accomplish the last two.

“These are the features that set us apart — our signature brand technologies,” Mulally said, adding that the features were “strategically important” and help to differentiate the company’s offerings from competition.

This is pure greed, hubris and, yes, insanity. Barring a parallel move to auto-pilot systems that take the driver off-line (hmm… not a bad idea for some I’ve known) if in-dash computers become common place we’re all going to be worse off — some of us a lot worse off. Let’s stop the madness before this tech becomes commonplace. Write your Congressman or Representative today!