Editing 1837: Rental Car
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
In this comic the couple [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] want to rent a car. The [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Cueball-like guy]] from the {{w|car rental}} agency tells them they only have two vehicles available: | In this comic the couple [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] want to rent a car. The [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Cueball-like guy]] from the {{w|car rental}} agency tells them they only have two vehicles available: | ||
− | * One car that puts its occupants into mortal danger, so much | + | * One car that puts its occupants into mortal danger, so much so that it is called ''The Murder Car''. The danger, however, is abstract—the car is haunted by a {{w|ghost}}, and actual death befalls only "maybe one in six". (That is the equivalent of a round of {{w|Russian Roulette}}.) This is the fatality rate for drivers (in this case, Megan), while the rate for passengers is not mentioned. |
− | * The other car, a regular {{w|Sedan (automobile)|sedan}}, has a defective {{w|GPS}} that incessantly gives instructions to go specifically to {{w|Seattle}}, regardless of the driver's intention to go there | + | * The other car, a regular {{w|Sedan (automobile)|sedan}}, has a defective {{w|GPS}} that incessantly gives instructions to go specifically to {{w|Seattle}}, regardless of the driver's intention to go there. And it cannot be turned off. |
− | Megan believes she can ignore this and accepts the | + | Megan believes she can ignore this and accepts the least lethal car. The comic suggests that driving with a GPS that tries to guide you to a different destination than that which you wish to visit—so it is always recalculating and asking you to do U-turns—is incredibly annoying. So annoying that given the choice between the persistent low-level annoyance of the GPS on one hand, and the ("low") probability of being murdered on the other, most people will choose the latter option. After all, they might survive murderous ghosts but they feel they will not survive long having to listen to the broken GPS. |
According to the title text, the murderous ghosts haunt both cars, but as soon as the car starts driving and the GPS begins to drone on, even the ghost cannot stand listening to the broken GPS and stops possessing it. | According to the title text, the murderous ghosts haunt both cars, but as soon as the car starts driving and the GPS begins to drone on, even the ghost cannot stand listening to the broken GPS and stops possessing it. | ||
Line 19: | Line 19: | ||
Apart from the joke about GPS, this is also a subtle joke on the horrible cars one might get at a car rental service. | Apart from the joke about GPS, this is also a subtle joke on the horrible cars one might get at a car rental service. | ||
− | + | ==Trivia== | |
+ | *With an estimated 1.25 million vehicular deaths globally in 2013[http://www.who.int/gho/road_safety/mortality/traffic_deaths_number/en/] and approx. 1,187 million vehicles on the road in the same year [https://www.statista.com/statistics/281134/number-of-vehicles-in-use-worldwide/], the number of fatalities per vehicle comes to be around 0.1% or about 1 in 950. This number includes trucks and commecial vehicles. | ||
+ | * As of 2014, there were 253 million cars on the road in the US [http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-ihs-automotive-average-age-car-20140609-story.html] and only 32,675 deaths [https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812246], giving a rate of fatalities per car of slightly over 0.01%, or 1 in 7,700) | ||
+ | * The car lethality risk is lower in the US by a factor of 8, compared to the worldwide vehicular lethality risk. | ||
+ | |||
+ | *The global number of haunted cars is not available, but believed to be at least five in number. [http://www.autoblog.com/2014/10/31/five-cursed-haunted-cars/] | ||
+ | |||
+ | *Similarly, while the number of faulty car GPS devices is not available, Garmin recalled 1.3 million Nuvi GPS units in 2011. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/26/garmin-gps-recall-nuvi_n_695967.html] These recalls were not for bad directions, but for fire hazards. | ||
+ | |||
+ | *There are records of several {{w|Death by GPS | deaths resulting from following faulty GPS directions or maps}}, particularly while traveling in unfamiliar or difficult terrain. [http://www.newser.com/story/214008/woman-killed-after-gps-takes-her-to-wrong-street.html] [http://www.npr.org/2011/07/26/137646147/the-gps-a-fatally-misleading-travel-companion] [https://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/05/death-by-gps/] | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
Line 34: | Line 43: | ||
:[In a frame-less panel Megan and Cueball drive in the sedan.] | :[In a frame-less panel Megan and Cueball drive in the sedan.] | ||
− | :GPS: | + | :GPS: Turn left |
− | :GPS: | + | :GPS: Recalculating |
− | :GPS: | + | :GPS: Make a U-Turn |
− | :GPS: | + | :GPS: Recalculating |
− | :GPS: | + | :GPS: Turn right |
− | :GPS: | + | :GPS: Make a U-Turn |
− | :GPS: | + | :GPS: Recalculating |
:[Megan and Cueball walk back into the agency with the guy behind his desk. Megan holds out the car keys in one hand.] | :[Megan and Cueball walk back into the agency with the guy behind his desk. Megan holds out the car keys in one hand.] | ||
Line 46: | Line 55: | ||
:Megan: We'll take the murder car. | :Megan: We'll take the murder car. | ||
:Guy: Popular choice. | :Guy: Popular choice. | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} |