Thursday, June 10, 2010

Hair-brained ideas: Safe cars make safe drivers

So, I sometimes get some hair-brained ideas. Mostly when I'm super exhausted or when I can't shut my brain off while trying to get some sleep.

So, here I am. It's ten in the morning, and I've been up for the past four hours. We can blame that on a work meeting. I'm not a morning person, to say the least. Even if I get to sleep at a decent hour, my body still doesn't want to wake up before noon and my body doesn't want to get to sleep before midnight. I've always been like that; so even if I take a nice little melatonin and hit the sack at around 10PM, I still don't want to roll out of bed before noon, despite that happy little 7 hours of sleep I've already had.

Anyway.

On the drive to and from this horrendous morning meeting, I got a few crazy ideas about cars and what cars should have to make our roads a safer place to be. As you may have noticed from a previous post, I am almost fanatic about cars and car safety. I am terrified of car accidents to the point where I am, most of the time, a nervous driver and passenger. The "Oh Shit Handle" is my best friend in any car.

That being said, on to the blog.

1.  Cars should have a breathalyzer built into the steering wheel.  Now, I know that some cars have this built in... Only if you've had a DUI. The way I see it, this is wrong. Why should we only have the thing installed after you've screwed up? Makes no sense to me. This should be standard on every car. The car won't start if you're blood alcohol level is above that which is legal. I've recently had a friend taken from me because of a drunk driver. He left behind a fiance and a two-year-old daughter. Why should they have to suffer the fate of putting their loved one in the ground because somebody didn't know their limit? This, to me, is bullshit. If cars had this thing installed, standard, then he would still be alive. Lots of people would still be alive. That, and we could cut back on taxes paid to law enforcement for them having to patrol the roads for drunk drivers, setting up checks/blocks, and even cut back on court costs for such cases. It would force people to be unable to drive while intoxicated past the legal limit and I wouldn't fear for my life while driving home on a damn holiday.

2.  Cars should have a built-in GPS system that detects the speed limit of certain roads and will not allow your car to exceed this.  Sorry, speeders! Why should our cars have the ability to go above 75 MPH in the first place? No, thanks. This, is pretty self-explanatory, and like #1, would cut down costs of both law enforcement and courts.

3.  Cars should have a fingerprint reader for more car security. Screw keyless entry buttons. Hell, screw keys. It's a bitch to have to try and find those, anyway! Why not have fingerprint readers that will, say, read your thumb print on the door and ignition? At least your ass won't get car-jacked. Though, it would suck if it went faulty and locksmiths would be kinda screwed out of some good work, but it's the idea that counts, right?

4.  Cars should have an adapter for phones that will allow calls and texts to come out of your radio.  Okay. Screw hands-free headsets, then. I paid $75 for my bluetooth car radio adapter. My phone calls play out of my speakers at pretty good quality, and it would save a few drivers. Also, you can get programs on your phone, now, that will read your text messages to you. Why is this not utilized by everyone?

5.  Cars should have weight sensors in the seats that trigger a mechanism to where, if your seat belt is not fastened, the car won't start.  Again, self-explanatory. If you're not wearing your seat belt, you don't go anywhere. Again, this reduces costs of court and law enforcement. So, your seat belt is uncomfortable? Bawww.... Here, we'll see how uncomfortable you are as you fly through the windshield and do a face-plant into the pavement. Much more uncomfortable when you're face is on the pavement... In a trail a few yards long. I prefer the seat belt, thanks.

6.  Cars should run off of steam power.  Now, this is a little hair-brained, I'll admit. But, wouldn't it be so much easier to make cars steam powered instead of gasoline powered? Wouldn't that end the whole ridiculous issue of pollution and fuel shortages and oil leaks? Really?


Now, granted these "fixes" would make cars more expensive than they already are; I know it would make cars more expensive. However, I would gladly pay more for a car that ensures my safety and the safety of others on the road. Sure, the reduced court, law enforcement, and fuel costs would just end up getting poured into increased car payments, but I'd rather my car and others' cars keep asshats like the one that killed my friend off of the roads, even if it means paying more for my car.

4 comments:

  1. Hum.....I agree and disagree. Shall we do a power point presentation on this? No? Okay, we will just break it down old school:

    1) Agree. But of course you cannot register heroin levels or meth levels, so you will not ever totally eradicate alcohol/drug related auto accidents; but it would bring the levels down.
    2)Um, yeah....don't agree with this one. If my husband is choking to death or dying of a heart attack in the passenger seat of my car, then fuck your 35 mile an hour zone.
    3)Don't agree with this one either. The hubs and I are not the only ones that drive our vehicles. Say you are at "da club" and you are too intoxicated to drive (see bullet 1), then now your friend can't get you home. Oh, not to mention car jackings will still happen, but now instead of just kicking you out of your car, they will kick you out of the car and cut your finger off.
    4)Yeah, that would be cool. Some cars already have this feature.
    5)I agree with this too. Seat belts save lives, yo.
    6)Yeah, I agree with this to.

    But, even with these safety features, it won't prevent people from driving like assholes. Oh, and yeah, like you mentioned, cars would be as much as houses and we would have to mortgage them for 30 years. No thanks, I already have three mortgages, I don't need or want another one.

    Good post though.

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  2. Agreed, Sissy. You make good points. This, of course, is why I repair computers for a living and don't work in the "idea factory" for cars.

    And, yes, I'm sure the cars would be as expensive as houses, and I like my fingers, thankyouverymuch. :P

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  3. About number 2, I don't understand why speedometers go over 80 miles an hour either...maybe instead of having a speed detector, how about just cutting down on the speed that a car can go? You know, make the highest speed possible 80 or so.

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  4. That's pretty much what I was trying to get at with #2; why should a car be able to go over a particular speed. I mean, I can understand if it's a race car (though I hate NASCAR, but that's neither here nor there), but a car for the average consumer? Really? Does it HAVE to have the ability to go over 80? No.

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