Tell me, are people supposed to press a sobriety button before going home?
No, they are supposed to take a taxi.
And uh, most GA aircraft (and indeed most of the big stuff) is flown by hand when it counts.
Many serious accidents actually take place when the pilot overrides what they think is a computer error (and turns out not to be one).
The potential to harm others was somehow raised through time?
1) Maybe someone finally realised that the potential was there.
2) It's not about harm to others here as much as about harm to yourself, the drunk canoeist, if you will. ;-)
I like to drink beer on the river. As long as I know the river and know what's coming (never easy even on a river you think you know BTW). But there is a lot of Sunday kayakers out there who drink themselves silly and think they can tell the river what to do. Never a good idea.