The misdesign of cars

Silverstone Preperation Stage Two
Originally uploaded by gatekiller.

Phyllis and I haven’t been out driving often yet, so I still tend to see things from the outside. I guess that’ll change soon, so I guess I’d better rant about the misdesign of cars now.

Let’s face it: Basically all one wants to do speed-wise is maintaining the speed, going faster, or slowing down. So why does one need three pedals, a handbrake and a gearstick? As far as I can see, all of this could be done with the vertical part of a joystick or similar, holding it still to maintain the speed, moving it forwards to go faster, and pulling it backwards to slow down (and braking depending on how hard you’re pulling it). Perhaps a activation button would additionally be needed to reverse.

Don’t get me wrong: I do understand why cars were originally designed like they were, but surely computers can be programmed these days to translate the movements of the joystick into the right signals to the engine!

And don’t tell me I just need a car with automatic drive: That seems to be going only half the way, sacrificing some control along it.