Been reading and hearing about smart cars, including the one actually named the Smart Car–that looks like a grasshopper on wheels and runs all day on a teaspoon of gas. “Smart cars” also refers to a breed of autos that warn you when you’re too close to the Honda in front. And they actually know how to park themselves.
I like it when a smart car actually displays a picture of what’s behind you. There’s a video camera that shows the thing you’re about to back into. Or over. And if your vehicle comes equipped with one of those sonar like devices, you’ll notice that the beeps come more quickly, the closer you get to another car. You’ll notice it, that is, if you take out the earbuds.
Makes me wonder what we’ll get with the next generation of smart cars.
Maybe its sensors will smell the coffee or the donut you’re consuming while behind the wheel. It can scold you, perhaps in your mother’s voice: “Put down the food and concentrate on the road.”
The smart car of the future won’t want its driver to look stupid. It’ll cancel the left turn signal you unconsciously flip on when you enter the left turn lane.
And how about a mechanism in the back seat to monitor disputes between your kids? It will know who started it, and it will allow you to stay focused on the road, because it will take care of slapping the offender to demonstrate that “hitting is wrong.”
The next generation of smart cars will know how futile it is to honk at rude drivers who squeeze in front of you. You’ll hit the horn, but instead of making any noise, the car will display a clenched fist icon on the dash–a reminder to reach out the window and make a hostile gesture.
To make sure that you’re awake and paying attention, the smart car should, on occasion, maneuver quickly to the freeway off-ramp from the middle lane, or effect a U-turn in moderate to heavy traffic. That also serves to keep other drivers on their toes.
Now that’s smart defensive driving!
It is great to know our cars are getting smarter. Now, if something could just be done about stupid drivers….