Gaze Into Your Psyche

Have you ever had a group activity where they ask you a question to lighten the mood and try to get to know you?  I was once a waiter, and we used to have tons of questions we would ask new comers like “If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?” or “What CD is currently in your car?”  Although they may be very simple questions, they do in fact tell a lot about a person.  So, I don’t know what thought process brought up this topic, but I would love to hear other people answer some of my favorite questions.  Post your replies in the comments!

1. If you were a car – make and model, what car would you be, and why?
2. If you had a vacation house, what would it be, and what would you name it?
3. If you had a boat, what would you call it?

Technology to Solve Drinking and Driving

Say goodbye to freedom!  Soon every car will be equipped with an ignition interlock device, which prevent’s driv’ers from getting behind the wheel after having too much to drink.  Ok not exactly, but the technology is on the horizon and I could see this scenario coming true in the next 5 years.  Currently, the process requires the driver to blow into the device, which would be rather inconvenient to have every driver do this, but don’t worry because I assure you that technology can, and will, make this process much more convenient.

Cars today are practically computers on wheels.  For those that still carry keys, most have microchips embedded in them, but now drivers simply push a button to start the car.  Nissan has recently been experimenting with different ideas to decrease drinking and driving, and if diabetic blood sugar monitors can detect blood sugar level without a blood sample, whose to say you can’t do the same for blood alcohol level (BAC).  So what I imagine is with some combination of these technologies, your key fob, or even your steering wheel, will be able to detect your BAC as you hold it, and if you exceed the pre-configured limit then the key disables the ignition from starting.  There would be no way to monitor the device remotely, so their would be no fear of invasion of privacy, although you have to be blind to believe you have much privacy in the first place.  Hell, with GPS on cell phones and cars, and all the other technologies today, there is always a way to find you – but that is an article for another day.

So some of you might be saying, “screw this!  I have never gotten behind the wheel after drinking, so why should I pay for someone else’s mistake.”  Well, imagine the price you pay when you, or someone you know gets killed by a first time offender who wasn’t responsible enough to make the right decision.  We all should know how common it is today.  Simply turn on the nightly news and chances are you’ll hear something similar.  In fact, I read a statistic that 1 in 4 drivers after 10 pm are under the influence of something.  That is a high ratio, and proves that a lot of people don’t make the best choice, so why not ask the government to step in and do something more to keep the roads safe.

If driving is truly a privilege, then why should we complain when the government is imposing safety precautions.  I think a majority of the country would agree that safety belts are inconvenient, but they are required to be worn.  Air bags and car seats are other features which have been required by law to increase the safety of drivers and passengers.  All of these were once a luxury to have in your car but now they are standard.  Driver’s might have complained when the law requiring these safety devices was being passed, but they all have the intentions to protect people on the road from potential hazards.  Nobody complains today that “I am a good parent, why should I have to put my kid in a car seat.”  Rather, parents are looked down upon for not providing their children with this safety.

Of course there is a way around everything.  You can choose not to wear your seat belt, have your child sit in your lap while you drive, or pay  a stranger to blow in your ignition interlock device, but there isn’t much you can do for those that go out of their way to break the law.  But in order to protect those who make poor decisions, and those that share the road with them, I think the idea is genius.  It’s just a matter of waiting for technology to become so convenient that the driver won’t even realize what is going on, and then cars should be equipped with the device.