Posted on 07/17/2014 3:41:16 PM PDT by lowbridge
No, this isn't an April Fool's joke or some sort of wacky car commercial. It's the SPCA Auckland (located in New Zealand) coming up with an innovative way of proving that it's possible to teach a rescue animal new tricks. Monty, Porter and Ginny are all dogs rescued by the SPCA Auckland, and each was taught the ability to drive a Mini Countryman around a track.
After being strapped into the driver's seat, the dogs are able to use their paws to start the car, steer it and work the gas and brake, which have been modified similar to a car setup for a special-needs driver. These dogs aren't being trained to drive on the street as any sort of driving-eye dogs, rather it is just a demonstration of how smart and docile rescue dogs can be regardless of how they ended up there.
(Excerpt) Read more at autoblog.com ...
Yeah, but can they drift a car? That’s the real measure of driving these days.
Woofs gotta be a lot safer drivers than the bipeds in the Costco parking lot these days!
Can they text and otherwise use a cell phone while driving? Oh, never mind, that’s against the law anyway.
How old does one need to be to drive in New Zealand?
How old does one need to be to drive in New Zealand?”
Is that in dog years or people years?
What about a driver’s license, will their driver’s test be in Spanish, will they have to have uninsured motorist’s coverage on their insurance? Do we still call them motorists? Just so many opportunities for government involvement if this were to happen in the U.S.
I wonder how they will drive when they see another dog chasing the vehicle.
Cool.
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