I have heard stories of people changing clothes in a moving car, the funny Mr Bean included. I, admittedly, have never really caught anyone in this act. I have, however, seen women preening at themselves and men frantically fumbling with an unrelentingly large map upon their laps, trying to find their way to a restaurant. Stop-and-go traffic seems to bring out a completely different set of anthropological behaviour.
Common instinct is to whip out that mobile phone and bore a forgotten friend with catch-up conversation. The look-busy types continually check to review an e-mail that may have pinged in their inbox just five seconds ago. Such homey behaviour is worsened by cars laden with accessories, which feel like they're slowly morphing into your living quarters. You have the talking GPS, lest you lose your way. State-of-the-art satellite radios beam over a hundred stations, ensuring that one of your hands is on the tuning knobs all the time. The other hand is busy adjusting the many controls cars these days provide - power windows, automated passenger doors, pop-up trunks, moon and sun roofs. Press a key and select one of 24 CDs that blares music. Another plays an SRK blockbuster on the DVD player mounted to the side. Don't forget the defogger and temperature setting buttons. Would you prefer vanilla over a lemon flavour to freshen that car - it just takes a push of another button if you have a finger to spare!
I can tell if the driver received a call or is trying to make one by looking at the brake lights of the car ahead of me. I can sense the gravity of the conversation by the cruising speed of the vehicle. If it shoots off uncontrollably - stay clear - someone is angry and on a kamikaze mission! If it wobbles, it would be a driver with a cellphone planted between the left shoulder and the lower left jaw, struggling with a pen and pad in the right hand, all the while balancing the wheel with the chin and the odd right shoulder! The latest buzz is that Wi-Fi is in these days - many agencies turn your rental car into a mobile hotspot. Given that your upper torso and appendages are fully engaged in various controls, a footpad may help you navigate the internet while you're driving. There is some space to situate this to the left of the clutch - otherwise you will hit that infamous 'Page not found' error while intending to press the brakes to a screeching halt.
