Automagic!

Yesterday it was announced, that because of the Toyota acceleration/brake problem, that a device is going to be installed on all new vehicles called a brake override system. It's designed to override your accelerator pedal in the unlikely event that the vehicle become possessed, the driver completely loses all rational thought, and it speeds out of control.

Now I realize there is quite a to do about the 52 people who've died to date from suspected uncontrollable acceleration of their Toyota, but when does common sense kick in? How hard is it to educate the driving population to put the car into neutral? I mean, we did some how manage to teach then to turn the key to start it, and we also introduced them to the complicated art of putting it into drive. Do we really need to add the expense of a computer operated system to disable the accelerator when you apply the brakes?

I'm really starting to question the IQ level of the humans granted the privilege of being issued a driving licence. Perhaps part of the driving test should be a simulated emergency situation where your car becomes possessed like a scene from a horror movie and locks all four doors, trapping you inside, then it magically put itself into drive and races off at uncontrollable speeds toward certain death. You have ten seconds to react, can you as the operator (the one in control) of the vehicle, react quickly enough to place said possessed vehicle into neutral and apply brake?

Wait better yet... We could save the expense of the Hollywood movie set to simulate something out of the Exorcist, and simply question drivers when they either get a new license or renew the old one.

1.) Should your car accelerate suddenly in drive without any aid from you; You should.....
A) Call for an Exorcism.
B) Notify your attorney.
C) Place car in neutral, and apply foot brake
D) Dial 911
E) All of the above

I know it's a trick question! But hey, we have to raise the bar! How else are we going to weed out those who drive for miles in the right hand lane with their left turn signal on? This added safety feature is going to add thousands of dollars to already overpriced vehicles. Why? Because the driving public fails to react calmly when faced with adversity. If we can't rationally deal with this, just how vulnerable are we?

God Bless!
Capt. Bill