Driven wild, wildly driven, or driven into the wild?
A secret attempt to integrate Zombies into the mainstream?
OK, not one has actually died with this (yet), but it’s lumbering forward.
Lights are on; nobody’s home….but they are going there in style or into the wild (depends on who you talk to)
It’s official.
No one’s in the driver’s seat.
Pick me! Pick me! I actually had a license.
(Image. Public domain: CDC.gov/ Zombie Pandemic guide)
Well, that’s not quite right at this point, there has to be a body there (Zombies’ jobs program!).
Will they shortly eliminate the driver’s seat to insure passengers don’t interfere?
Will the driver’s seat disappear like passenger seats in some trucks to prevent the temptation to pick up hitchhikers?
(Oh, that may have been a secret agreement between trucking companies and the FBI. Who knows how many hitchhiker lives have been saved by eliminating the “shotgun” seat.)
Anyway, back to the body of knowledge.
California is now bumper to bumper with Nevada (not surprised, always a gambler) and Florida (with all the seniors and gators there, no brainer…..the concept, not the seniors and gators)
Prius energy monitor (Image. King Huang: commons.wikimedia.org)
Governor Jerry Brown, State Sen. Alex Padilla, and Google Co-founder Sergey Brin whisked to Google Inc. headquarters in Google modified Prius for a signing ceremony for the sci-fi bill SB 1298 which lets self-driving cars insert themselves onto public roads.
No acknowledged Zombies being willing to risk it, Google engineer Chris Urmson sat in the driver’s seat. But he swears it wasn’t a hands-on situation. The Prius, already a smug vehicle, drove itself.
People are raving! (See, there is common ground with zombies).
Self-driven cars are what Americans need, says Brin.
Congestion can be relieved as self-controlled cars can slip stream like Tour de France bikers.
(No, don’t even start those videos of all the 2012 dramatic bike crashes…).
Let’s not even bring up NASCAR slipstreams and wrecks…that’s on a track anyway – so not real life….all that mass x speed = force, stored up energy and rolling cars and all)
These cars are self controlled. Bound to better than humans with their road rage issues.
And besides so much better if all able to take advantage of auto transportation: the blind, the elderly, the totally fall down drunks…don’t forget the movie starlets! All safely delivered to their destination – with no pedestrian lives lost!
(Ignore all the public demands for bullet trains and commuter mass transportation)
Drunks? Frat boys? Celebs? Give them a ride!
(Image: 1968.US.Public domain/ Night of the Living Dead/commons.wikimedia.org
We are a nation of drivers!
A little thing like emails from the office or texting doesn’t slow us down…
Hmm, companies might be willing to underwrite driverless cars. Employees could safely do productive work while going to and from the office?
Better lives through technology!
Technology has the cool factor!
(Just run anti-virus program frequently. And prosecute hackers with…uh, reckless driving?)
Chic Peep says, “You’ll have to pry the steering wheel out of my cold dead hands…uh, wing!”
Shiny new toys!
Speaking of toys, here’s one that’s eventually bound to be a hit.
(Car related, so hope the hit isn’t the fender crunching kind)
Google says the driverless cars won’t run lights. (See, big benefit! Insurance companies in love already.)
Poor slow-witted humans do. (Honestly, they can’t stop themselves.)
Now there’s a smartphone app for that!
SignalGuru
Cars are revving their engines over this one already. (Even the zombie driven)
Developed by MIT, the app will let drivers know when a light is about to change and what speed the car needs to go to make the light. The app will reveal how fast a driver needs to go to cruise non-stop down the road and make all the lights!
It will save gas eliminating all the stopping and starting. Traffic flow could greatly improve.
(Seeing a marketing trend here? Oh, So off base with that. All for the common good and all.)
The app will pry those smartphones out of zombie drivers’ hands since the phone camera must be dashboard mounted to “read” transition signal information from traffic lights.
(Think of the fun! A new travel game for the kids: will the app guess right or not?)
And keeping us safer!
No more handheld texting by drivers
No more rushing blindly to make the light. (unless the blind are in a self driven car, then technically it would be running blind)
Two auto innovations with lots of potential.
(Think of the potential comedy scripts. And a new industry for vacation mystery tours. Lawyers? Hmmm, don’t know..)
The feds will surely be insisting. Manufacturers will definitely be charging.
Oh Google, “Don’t be evil”, we know and trust you.
You’ve kindly brought stalkers us maps and internet fun.
Who could live without those frozen street-pictured slices of life – like people waving guns?
Look at all that wasted space on the road!
(Image: 2008.Public domain /Dough4872:commons.wikimedia.org)
Google co-founder Sergey Brin points out how drivers waste all that air and space on the roads: front to back, and side to side. Innovations with technology can keep cars zooming closer together - and more safely than humans ever could (including experts like Danica Patrick and Jay Leno).
Yep, get those cars running inches apart in very narrow lanes. It might be better for zombie drivers.
More importantly, it will be easier to read a message in the car’s passenger window: “Help! I’m being held captive by my self driven car!”
On autopilot (with images of Weeble-shaped passengers),
Phil, the Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge
Read more:
- “Holy Crap, Self-driving Cars Are Now Legal in California”. Gizmodo article. Read how Google’s Brin says how driverless cars will improve society. Really. Self-driven cars will save us all. Read this one. (Marketing. Marketing!)
- “Gov. Brown Gives Green Light to driverless Cars In California”. Reuters article.
- “Greatest Smartphone App of All Time Helps You Beat Red Lights”. Jalopnik article. Excitement over the app which will end congestion and lower fuel consumption….Yeah, that’s why people are excited about this app.
- “SignalGuru app helps drivers avoid red lights” Reuters article.
FYI: Intel Corp chip creators created a $100 million fund to speed investment of future auto technology (Feb, 2012) Very interesting, but funny? Maybe, maybe not.
- “Intel capital to Invest in Future of Automotive Technology” Newsroom.intel.com. News from big chip’s mouth.
- “Intel Will Spend $100M to Make Your Car ‘the Ultimate Mobile Device’”. Business Journals Digital Network/Business Times. “..seamless connection between vehicles and any connected device”
Vintage Weebles. (Image: Hasbro Romper room set on ebay.com)
I’ve seen so many zombies driving on the freeways of California that this won’t require any adjustment for me.
You’re probably in good company with this one. Thanks for driving over.
Next it’ll be droids driving the cars, not people.
Whoa, you might be on to something there….wonder who gets the ticket if there’s a traffic violation? Thanks for buzzzing over
Love the weeble pic. I could have used one of these recently. Then I wouldn’t have rear-ended someone while putting on my hand lotion.
Oh, that probably spoiled your day…and now dealing with the repairs and insurance, UGH! Hope it was only cars injured! (Sure they will be calling you for a poster child shot or TV endorsement of the robocars…make it a big check!) Thanks for stopping by
Sounds stupid & expensive to me. Plus if we people are no longer driving, then we won’t have drivers’ licenses– and how are we going to make fun of the photos on them? Another simple pleasure lost in this high tech world. *sigh*
Darn – you are right about the pix…but does it mean we can skipping those annoying long lines to renew licenses? Or will that punishment never cease? Thanks for steering this direction
It amazes me how many people forget a car is heavy and dangerous machinery. Sure most use it everyday, but that doesn’t make it any less important to pay attention when driving.
You are right. It’s big,lumbering, and slow to stop: may sound like a typical office, but a car is not an office, restaurant, beauty spa, or a dance floor. Maybe too much multitasking …better to focus on the driving and be alert with what’s going on. Thanks for shifting into gear to chat.
Given how terrible most drivers are around here, a smart self-driving car might not be such a bad idea…. But I’d have a hard time climbing into the passenger’s seat (front or rear) and watching the car do all the work!
The fact that companies WOULD expect employees to work on the commute is a good argument against having them!
These cars might work really well in very congested areas like NYC? But that sounds pretty scary…you can yell at a cab driver…and the way things break, who would want to get locked into a run-away car? (and you know big companies would jump on this.)
Thanks for parking to chat
No, no, no… Insanity, all of it. I love driving. I drove a manual for more than half my licensed driving life before I gave in and bought an automatic but I can’t be bothered using the cruise control… If I want to be driverless, I ask the G.O. to drive me, get a cab or catch the bus. Must ‘they’ regulate everything? Don’t answer that… I know.
I don’t like cruise control either – it gets too boring sitting there. Driving, especially with manual, can be a lot of fun….especially if the road isn’t flat and straight forever….(gotta watch for those Highway Patrol on those!)
Thanks for swerving by to chat
Stupid, impractical, and unenforceable. It’s California run amok, is what it is. Besides, what about all those people who don’t have the self-driving cars and the apps? What are those folks calculating the next light to the nano-second going to do about me, putzing along, stopping on yellows and being very, very careful – as befits an aging driver?!
They have been test driving some robocars already in CA for the last year. (and there have been wrecks and incidents). They say in five years….
It will be interesting to see what develops…and the new regulations (“keeping us safer”) that will appear. Sci-fi for real.
Thanks for putzing by.(love that word!)
I get very anxious if I’m not the one behind the wheel. And that’s with a human in the driver’s seat. I can’t imagine riding in a car where there’s no driver!
I’m afraid I’d have to walk. Creep factor…just read too many sci-fi books. Thanks for rolling along
Can we send you our zombies too? Being a small country with a large population with cars, we already drive bumper to bumper and side by side. You can have a pretty good conversation with the bloke in the pantechnicon next to you!! Quicker to walk on the roofs of the vehicles in gridlock!
There a lot of zombies on the main roads here every morning….and I do think you are right about getting out and walking across the car roofs. Thanks for driving over
I see what technology is doing. Over the years it’s crept into our lives, little by little making our lives lazier, I mean, easier. It’s taken away many of our physical demands, resulting in an obesity epidemic. But that’s not good enough for technology. Now it aims to take away what mental capacity we have.
Weebles before you know it. Easier isn’t always wise. Thanks for pondering along
My concern is about hit & run accidents, and accidents in general where people can get hurt or killed. Would the car be charged with a crime? How would this affect law & legal practice in general?
This should be interesting to observe. As always, thanks for driving down the right path.
Yeah, the legal issues would appear to be complicated. They say we have 5 years as the companies develop the cars. Law schools are probably formulating courses now? (What will “road rage” mean in the future? Bet there’s some plot lines there?)
Thanks for parking to chat
I dislike driving, intensely. I’d love to have a car that does it for me. I’m always way behind the times when it comes to new technology (for instance, I still have a dumb phone, not a smart phone) which in this case is probably a good thing. Give them time to work out all the safety and legal issues.
If your phone lets you make good clear phone calls, that does the job. Some of the smarter ones, don’t do that well…but there’s all the other stuff to distract you. Auto cars do have an appeal, it’s finally “The Jetsons” for real? Thanks for driving over
You can’t go wrong when you integrate zombiers into a post!
So it seems….wakes people up? Glad you drove over.
I agree with Spinster,,,who do you sue, the car or the driver?!? and who would take the first driving test, the car or the owner of the car?!? interesting all the same…thanks for a neat-o story!
Just too complex to ponder…don’t need the headache. Just so odd! Thanks for slowing down to chat
I’m waving at ya as I drive by… haha