Friday, May 21, 2010
The dangers of bibliophile bus drivers
There are all kinds of unfair stereotypes about bus drivers. One is that they are a relatively uncultured and barely literate bunch who are about as likely to be seen with a book as I am capable of driving a bus.
However, one Birmingham bus driver has recently gone out his way to disprove this prejudiced view of bus drivers but, unfortunately for himself, has ended up facing the sack in the process.
A passenger filmed the driver of the 61 bus reading while he was driving. The footage reveals the bus driver flicking attentively through the pages of a weighty and serious looking book that is rested on the steering wheel - much in the fashion that a priest places his bible on the pulpit - while he winds his passengers through the streets of Selly Oak.In a statement, the driver's employer, bus operator National Express West Midlands said: "Immediate action was taken to suspend the driver who will now face disciplinary action. It is not appropriate to predict the outcome but an incident of this type is likely to lead to a dismissal."
From now on I resolve to be more generous and open-minded in imagining the cultural habits of bus drivers, but I'm also going to be a good deal more watchful of them too. I certainly don't want my driver crashing into a lamppost just because he's reached the bit in Anna Karenina when the eponymous heroine jumps in front of a train.
Image © infomatique, via Flickr under Creative Commons Licence
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Will the motor industry ever let the car drive?
One day in the not too distant future we may see the first fully automated car. Effectively, it will be a mechanised chauffeur, delivering you from appointment to appointment without you so much as having to grasp a steering wheel or grip a gearstick.
Yes, you may have to stay sober enough to keep from slurring while you state your destination to the vehicle's voice recognition system, but it is a small price to be paid for the joys of just raising your arms and reclining with your head in your hands.Whether this scenario will lead to the extinction of the human driver, I don't know. But one thing I can be certain of is that it would change the car insurance market forever.
I very much doubt that individual drivers would be held liable for accidents caused by automated vehicles; instead liability would in all likelihood lie with the manufacturer.
Having reached this realisation, it suddenly seems unlikely that we will see the sale of an automated car any time soon; perhaps it is a development only the very young will live to witness. This is because manufacturers would have to be all but certain that their vehicles had no bugs or glitches in the computer systems of automated cars.
Just think of the recent Toyota recalls, the costs of liability lawsuits and recalls would be ruinous and something manufacturers would be reluctant to ever take on.
Image © Scott Smith Photography via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence