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| Eyes open at all times |
I have always been an advocate for the future of flying cars. For many years my husband argued it was highly unlikely if not impossible. In more recent years, he simply says it would be a nightmare. So I am posting the positive and negatives of flying cars. Feel free to add your two cents. I am curious which will outnumber the other. As Shakespeare says, ’til my bad angle fires my good one out.”
Positives:
- Unlimited direction: Go anywhere simply by pointing your car in the direction of preference and pressing the pedal.
- As the crow flies: Forget about turning left and right. Point A to point B will be the only concern. Which way do I go, the only question.
- Take in the View: Imagine all the beauty of the drive. Ladies, sorry, start wearing those bikini tops while you sunbathe. There would be a need for wrap around windshields so that view would be BIG.
- Talk about noise: What noise? No road track rumble and rattle, just air foil silence. And possibly a jet engine, but if you’re fast enough, you can leave that behind, too.
- More automation here we come: Autopilot, auto-park, auto-liftoff, auto-safety, auto-avoidance.
- Faster, faster, faster – you get there faster.
- Crossing the Border: Shucks, there will be no borders. Head overseas, head across state, head north, south, what have you. One can’t put fences everywhere.
- Good for your health: no sharing air with carriers of the flu and other airborne illnesses.
Negatives:
- Triple-sized rule book: Talk about student drivers. Studying the handbook will be a two-year process and taking the TEST, yikes.
- Going up?: Changing lanes means probably changing levels, and what does that mean? Your not just looking left, right, front and back, but up and down. Texting is a definite no, no.
- More automation here we come: What happens when it breaks or one of those pesky electrical problems no one can ever track down occurs? Can’t tell you how many cars my husband has installed toggle switches in to bypass various electrical issues. Tough to steal our cars: you have to know where all the switches are.
- Phobias: So you don’t like heights? How about giving control to an automaton. How about all those cars flying just inches away, next door, overhead, below? (Wrote a story about this: “A Good Argument,” Gardens in the Cracks & Other Stories at Amazon and Smashwords.)
- Color coding: Blue, white, black, grey would be paint schemes that cars would not be allowed to have. Probably dark brown, too; my chocolate lab is invisible in the dark faster than a black lab any day of the week.
- What goes up must come down. We’re talking crash and burn.
- The wallet: What is the cost? What about insurance?
- Teen factor: What do they call that, barnstorming, buzzing their best friend’s house?
- Running out of gas: Don’t let this happen on a date.
- Looking under the hood: Inspection takes all day. “Honey, I am taking the car in for inspection — be back tomorrow.”
Want to add some more? Maybe flying cars are not a good idea, but I bet someone will find ways to deal with these less desired features. Tell me three times will come back into fashion.