I spend a lot of time (probably an unhealthy amount) staring out the window at all the different homes and properties we pass, wondering what they look like on the inside, and whatâs going on with the people living in them. I like to play CSI and extrapolate theories about dĂ©cor and contents of a home by whatâs displayed outside.
For instance: a nice, well-manicured yard with cute statues of bubble frogs probably leads into a home with a lot of light blue carpet, Thomas Kinkade paintings, at least one Hummel figurine, and a small, yappy dog.
On the other hand, if thereâs a âDonât Tread on Meâ flag being used as the front window curtains, a butcher-hanging frame made from an old swing set, and an odd assortment of 50 gallon drums strewn around, you can pretty much bet there are guns, pit bulls and illegal alcohol of some sort on the premises.
Of course, all these theories are based solely on my own personal experience, and should never be misconstrued as fact, which is why I brought us down this meandering road in the first place.
I read a Yahoo News article yesterday about the new âOttoâ self-driving truck technology, scheduled to hit the test markets this fall. Find it here. There are a myriad of things that bother me about this article, but two really bear to be noted.
O_o (My face when I read on and realized it wasnât a joke.)
Hi, my name is âDanger, Will Robinson!â
Also, if you donât imagine Leslie Nielsen saying âDonât call me Shirleyâ the minute you hear the word autopilot you need to catch up on your âAirplaneâ movies.
Letâs add in, âHave you ever seen some of the places our GPS has tried to take us?â
Honestly, if we left it up to the GPS, weâd have destroyed a Civil War cemetery, two bridges and a calving shed by now, not to mention the hundreds of innocent chickens weâd have murdered if George had followed the directions and taken it through the chicken house, instead of around it. It was a 12-foot mapping mistake that could have made a huge difference in the lives of a bunch of chickens, not to mention our insurance rates.
Sorry, Iâm either too old or too stupid to accept this just yet. My personal feeling is you âOttoâ run far and fast if you ever see one of these trucks on the road.
The other thing that bothers me about this article has nothing to do with the technology, and everything to do with some of the statements made in it. Things like, âOtto focuses on maximizing the efficiency and safety of long-haul trucks, which spend much of their time on the side of the road as drivers rest.â
Um. What? Iâm sorry, but youâll have to tell me where we find these herds of trucks sitting on the side of the road just wasting âmuch of their timeâ by allowing the driver to rest. What kind of stupid statement is that? Does this person have an editor? Clearly, they need TD in the mix over at Yahoo.
The final rock in my boot about this article is the assertion that âtrucks fitted with Otto software can drive more than double their normal daily mileage.â Hey, guess what, Scooter? So can people on paper logs, but that donât make it legal. The statement is a glaring clue that the person writing the article and making the quotes doesnât understand the hours of service. Theyâre looking at our yard as they pass by and making assumptions about the industry, based on their personal experience.
Unfortunately, this is the case most of the time when it comes to the trucking industry. Rarely is the professional driver included on changes and decisions being made within the industry, they donât get to vote on new laws or mandates imposed in the name of âsafety,â in the very industry they have proven unequivocally to be operating safely as a whole. That donât make no sense, folks.
And donât call me Shirley.