That’s Outrageous!

SMASH HIT

Some new drivers pass their road tests with flying colours. Others fail with flying glass. One morning in October 2016 in the US city of Bellevue, Washington, a young woman was headed to her final in-car examination.

When she got to the driving school, she attempted to park. Unfortunately, she missed the brake pedal, accidentally slamming on the accelerator instead. The vehicle careened through the front of the building, smashing its plate-glass facade and the rear window of the woman’s Audi, too. Thankfully, there were no injuries – except to the student’s pride.

JOYRIDE

Some young men in Perth, Western Australia, gave new meaning to the phrase ‘out to lunch’ when they were spotted cruising the streets on a pair of motorised picnic tables. Police were understandably perturbed by the atypical transportation method – the vehicles were unlicensed, unregistered and unsafe. On the plus side, they handled well: despite the primitive steering mechanisms, the puttering furniture manoeuvred through a busy city intersection with ease.

MAN VERSUS MACHINE

In November 2015, police in California pulled over a car for moving too slowly: more than 15 kilometres an hour below the speed limit. But when the cop strolled up to the door, he found there was no-one inside to reprimand – the vehicle turned out to be a self-driving Google prototype.

The much-publicised incident became a boon for the tech giant’s marketing department. Call it another innovation of our high-tech age: there is now literal truth to the saying, ‘The engine’s running, but nobody’s behind the wheel’.