Virtual Thought

Before Cory Doctorow goes and steals my idea (heh… Whuffie), here’s my proposal for eliminating asshole drivers.

Everyone who drives on the road is given a small set of daily votes, equal numbers of Nice and Nasty. When someone driving on the road is particularly—you guessed it—nice or nasty then you splat them with the appropriate vote. Every day, one’s car tallies these votes and will broadcast a user’s driving rating for all to see.

But wait, it gets better: one’s votes are weighted according to one’s own rating crossed with one’s driving record. A particularly nice, safe driver’s votes count more than one who is an unholy terror. Also, every vote weights you back to Normal, away from Nice or Nasty.

Everyone’s car is outfitted with a HUD that allows them to check, at a glance, someone’s rating (green spectrum to red in the usual cultural fashion with a height meter for the colorblind). Now you know who to avoid because, generally, they’re an Asshole Driver and who to trust because, generally, they’re a Great Driver. Worried that your friends will play a prank on you and splat you with all their Nasties for one day? Why would they want to since that screws up their own ratings?

Read Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. It is damn good.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 13th, 2005 at 1:17 pm and is filed under tech, thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.