It is said that at the beginning of the last century, an American man committed a capital crime and was sentenced to life in prison. The prison wasn’t in the close proximity of any town. So, the security wasn’t as tight as many other prisons. After spending 5 years in the prison, he decided to escape because he had nothing to lose. So, he thought of an escape plan with one of his trusted friends. All he needed from his friend was to leave a car at a pre-designated location and he would take care of the rest.
The prisoner’s friend visited him on the D-Day and gave him a sketch of the getaway car’s location. Later on, the prisoner was able to escape and was able to locate the car. But, he stood by the car for a long time and the prison guards realized that he escaped. A search team was sent to look for him and caught him near the car and brought him back to his cell and the guards were puzzled of why he just didn’t drive away. Well, he didn’t know how to start the car even though he was known to be one the most experienced drivers.
As a matter of fact, the prisoner went to jail at a time when cars were started by a handle attached to the front of the automobiles. And during the years he was in jail, the car key was invented and the crank handle simply became a thing of the past. His friend assumed he knew of the new invention, which is called the ignition key. Well, I read about this little story long time ago but can ta similar thing happen to others these days with the new changes in the automobile industry? The answer is yes, it can. It happened to a friend of mine just this past week in the American Capital, Washington.
Before my friend’s arrival to Dulles International Airport, he reserved an SUV at Avis. But his flight was delayed due to heavy snowfall on Jan. 23. Upon his arrival all SUVs had been taken. This is a normal thing at American airports. Many visitors would switch their small cars for bigger cars for safety reasons during snowstorms. When my friend arrived at Avis, the agent politely apologized and offered him another car (a top brand in the industry) as compensation. My friend was glad and took that car. But this friend had never owned or even drove that car before. Because of his rush to drive away after the delayed flight, he didn’t have time to familiarize himself with the many gadgets the car had to offer. My friend drove the car from the rental company lot and immediately stopped at the red light next to the rental company with little skid because of the icy road. The front of his car was in the middle of the intersection. And all of a sudden, the engine just quit. He panicked of why did the engine stop running and was more panicked when he saw a police car next to him signaling him to back up a little to clear the intersection. In America, when a policeman tells you to stop or move, you just do it. But my friend couldn’t move because the engine was not running and didn’t know why and pushed the ignition button. My friend rolled down his window and the policeman did the same. So, my friend took out the clearly known red and white rental agreement and told the policeman that he just rented the car and the car just stalled. The policeman smiled and lit up his flashing warning lights and got out of the car to help my friend. They contacted the rental company’s office. At the end, it turned out that my friend didn’t need any help. Some types of cars of a particular brand are designed to shut the engine when the car stops to save fuel and it would start again the minute you press the gas paddle or raise your foot from the brake pad.
Ten years ago, the car keys started to disappear. Cars now are started by keyless system. And short time ago we saw cars that parked on their own. This parking system saved many people from embarrassing moments. And finally, few months ago, we saw the introduction of cars that do not need a driver.
