Our senior writer dreams of having an automobile like KITT from Knight Rider.
We are constantly being told that autonomous vehicles are the future. With these smart and independent automobiles plying our streets, accidents and traffi c jams would be nonexistent, and our roads would be able to handle higher vehicle volumes, too. This scenario, however, is a nightmare to car lovers and driving enthusiasts.
We imagine the fictional, post-apocalyptic world from the Terminator movies becoming a reality, with machines controlling everything. We probably wouldn’t be allowed to drive because machines are perfect and humans are flawed. But I wouldn’t mind owning an autonomous sports car that is as cool and as great as KITT from Knight Rider.
If you’ve never watched an episode from the 1980s TV series, the fictional KITT was indestructible, never needed refuelling, and had a top speed that would make today’s hypercars look downright slow. KITT also had a “turbo boost” function that enabled it to jump over obstacles. It could also be summoned to your location via a walkie-talkie function on a smartwatch. Who needs apps? With a KITT-like autonomous car, I’d never need to find a carpark lot, since it could park itself.
Traffi c jams could be avoided and I’d be able to jump/ fly over accidents, too. The vehicle would also function as a personal assistant, reminding me of appointments and stories due. I could even order it to recce photo-shoot locations and perform on-road research from the comfort of my desk. Plus, there’d never be any concerns about the car getting vandalised or being crushed in an accident, since it would be indestructible. My only concern would be how much its software upgrades would cost, even if these patches could be downloaded wirelessly. But the coolest thing about my dream autonomous car is that it would always allow its flawed human owner to drive
Jeremy’s only other request for his autonomous car is for it to have a female voice, which he feels is more appealing than a male one.
