California "is considering a bill that would allow the state to begin researching the use of electronic license plates for vehicles." Yup, those electronic billboards aren't distracting enough, now we'll have to worry about license plates that would switch to digital ads or other messages when it is stopped for more than four seconds, whether in traffic or at a red light.
Your average California driver (I am specifically excluding BadTux) has the attention span of a hyperactive gnat to begin with. Can you imagine the back-ups that will ensue as thousands of California drivers get mesmerized by the pretty, flashing messages on the plates ahead of them at traffic lights?
And just think about the ads you'll see:
- granola-bar-dispensers for your Prius
- Birkenstock tires
- tourism ads from Arizona ("offer void if dark-skinned")
This has to be one of the worst ideas ev--
Ooooh, look, a bunny!
California drivers definitely are easily distracted. One day I was heading down the 101 to Ikea to get some tasteful particleboard furniture for my digs, and suddenly traffic came almost to a screeching halt. After creeping along in traffic for about 15 minutes, I came to the culprit, after which traffic speeded back up again.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, the culprit -- a flashing portable DMV sign announcing that the freeway was going to be closed from 1am to 5am for re-striping next Wednesday.
Yeah, that's it. Just a friggin' sign brought the whole friggin' freeway to a crawl. Siiiiiiigh!
- Badtux the Driving Penguin