A Cruise in San Francisco

A queer story...

...from NBC.

About a Chevrolet Bolt very much like this one:

Owned by GM subsidiary Cruise, it was an autonomous taxi undergoing testing.  And it was driving about at night with no headlights on.

Which piqued the interest of the local constabulary.

So they pulled it over only to discover that it had no driver.  It then drove off - through an intersection - before stopping again.

Notice that I used the phrase "it was driving" not "it was being driven"

Now a car with no driver might not need lights itself - but other road users and pedestrians might like to see it coming. Apparently, when it got pulled over, rather than calling its lawyer, it alerted staff back at base - or "Cruise Control" and one of them decided to move it to a "safer location".

If you have Facebook and want to see the brilliant Trevor Noah's take on this - click here.

Drivers Working From Home?

This has a very calm voice-over for a scary thing that is happening in Berlin right now.

Car+Driver alerted me to this one here.  It is called Vay, pronounced "Way".

It is a hail-and-ride system where the customer (like the lady in the video with a nice bottom) does the driving.

But the car gets to the customer by being driven remotely from what looks like a call-centre.

And when the customer has got to their destination, a remote driver takes it on to the next customer.

So many questions:

• What if the customer leaves it in the middle of a busy road?  The remote driver may not be ready to move it on.
• What if the remote driver fancies a bit of fun?  Can they take over control?
• Can the remote driver have a couple of beers first?
• What if the customer has a couple of beers first?  Or fancies a kip?  Can they ask the remote driver to take them all the way?
• Who are you supposed to vent your road-rage at when a remote driver cuts you up?

And finally, what happens when the remote driver is taking the vehicle at a reasonable speed along a busy main road and they see this?

I've Been Driving Through a Storm Lately

Rapper TuSimple has never performed a version of Jim Steinman's classic work "I've Been Dreaming Up A Storm Lately"

Here is Steinman himself performing it as part of the Pandora's Box album Original Sin.

I've been driving through a storm lately.

This was scary because there was a car behind me and another alongside me so I had no choice but to hit the water:

Here, you will hear me swear when I realise I've got into completely the wrong lane - then I overtake a truck.  If you don't like my swearing, you can enjoy Despacito which is unfortunately by Justin Bieber.

I'd got into the wrong lane by being in "auto-mode" where I was heading along a familiar route but going somewhere different to usual.

Imagine if that truck had been autonomous.

Actually, TuSimple is not a rapper.

He is also not Sainsbury's in-house clothing brand for people with learning difficulties.

He is actually an autonomous truck start-up.  Were you wondering where I was going with this?

Car+Driver have the story here.  It also includes a YouTube video - it is a much longer video than mine and the music is much naffer.  Don't bother watching it all - it's enough to know it's a truck driving itself through a storm and the speeds are quite concerning:

But, as Gerry Marsden said, "When you drive through a storm, hold your head up high."  which is actually from Carousel by Rogers and Hammerstein.

Is that enough musical genres for one Post?

I'll ask Stormzy.