Talking to Machines
When you need to communicate to another human being it’s pretty straight forward.
Trying to communicate with a machine is more difficult.
I know there’s a human being behind the machine. But can’t always see them and their vocabulary is pretty limited. So when I get honked at I’m left to guess what they’re trying to express.
While I know most people are decent, I’m too afraid to turn around and engage just in case the last driver is the one behind the wheel.
There was one suggestion recently which rather appealed to me: that in order to even up the game a little on the roads (as it were) the British Army’s now-surplus main battle tanks and armoured personnel carriers should be mingled into rush-hour city traffic in order to give motorists some idea of what it’s like to jostle twice a day with vehicles vastly heavier and more powerful than yourself, virtually blind, and which can casually crush you like a gnat without even being aware of having done so (Oh, and just to make things a bit fairer, the tank would have a “Motorists Stay Back” sticker, just so that they can’t say they weren’t warned). We might then see headlines like “Motorist Killed by Challenger Tank.”
PS. Having thought about it, the NRA’s take on firearms massacres would in fact be something more like “Seven People Killed by Person Using Bullets, Gun Possibly Involved Somewhere.”
Yes, you can’t tell, so you can make up your own mind about what they are thinking. I choose to assume any driver behind me honking is saying “I’ve got your back, don’t worry! It’s OK to take the lane!”
…So I wave thanks and take it.
Perfect! Who are we to assume auto drivers are out to get us.
@Benjamin “You do realize the idiocy of “vehicular cycling” advocacy has stunted the growth of actual bicycle infrastructure by 20 years or more, yes?”
Er, no. What do you mean? Is there less non-roadway cycling options because we ride in the street?