http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/post.aspx/Dont_rule_out_aerial_drones_for_Tulsas_next_funding/66-21261Don’t rule out aerial drones for Tulsa’s next funding package
By ZACK STOYCOFF Staff Writer
I'm ashamed that today’s story about Tuesday’s capital improvements town hall meeting failed to mention perhaps the most memorable proposal from the meeting’s open-mic citizen comment segment.
The proposal: Fund an aerial drone to patrol for texting motorists.
It’s not as crazy as it sounds. Unmanned drones, much like the ones used by the military, are being deployed by law enforcement agencies across the country. And wouldn't using them to protect drivers from their distracted counterparts be worth the money? Makes me wonder what other paradigm-shifting ideas could be out there.
For instance, would Tulsa's texter-patrolling drone have heat-seeking missiles that would actually rid our streets of these vermin? Maybe the city could install electromagnetic pulse devices next to traffic light cameras. When the camera spots a texting motorist, out goes a burst of electromagnetic energy that would render not only the cell phone inoperable, but the vehicle, too.
Surely the cost of such devices would be a drop in the bucket for the $919.9 million proposal. And why stop with anti-texting weaponry? How about anti-speeder land mines? Drunk driver-detecting nanites? Thought-altering flash beacons? (Maybe that's what's needed to remind motorists that 71st Street has an entire lane dedicated to motorists turning right from southbound U.S. 169.)
In all seriousness, city officials gave Tuesday's town hall meeting high marks. As many as 200 people may have attended, and two dozen residents spoke during the open-mic segment. Most of them had plausible suggestions for the package. But for the sake of amusement, let's see what other outlandish projects we can place into the category of aerial drones.
