[Short Story 01] • A Nice Morning Drive

"A Nice Morning Drive" is a short story in the November 1973 issue of Road Track, which inspired the song "Red Barchetta" by Rush. Author Richard Foster predicts a future where safety requirements for new cars results in huge “Modern Safety Vehicles” (MSV). Way back in 1973, Foster wrote, “Cars became larger, heavier, less efficient. They consumed gasoline so voraciously that the United States had had to become a major ally with the Arabian countries.”“People became accustomed to cars which went undamaged in lO-mph collisions,” the story continues. “They gave even less thought than before to the possibility of being injured in a crash. As a result, they tended to worry less about clearances and rights-of-way, so that the accident rate went up a steady six percent every year. But the damages and injuries actually decreased, so the government was happy, the insurance industry was happy and most of the car owners were happy.”In Foster’s world, some MSV drivers would purposely run older, smaller cars off of the roads simply because they could get away with it.Road Track, Nov. 1973, pp.148-150www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19731100roadandtrack.htm