Every driven an electric car? Chances are you haven鈥檛. But fifty years ago, 麻豆传媒 predicted that we鈥檇 all be using them today (28 October 1965). It was, we said, an 鈥渙bvious solution鈥� with 鈥渏erk-free speed control鈥� and a 鈥�40-mile range鈥�. You鈥檇 just plug the car in at home to recharge its battery overnight and, by the morning, you鈥檇 have between 5 and 8 hours of driving time ahead of you.
Of course, the 1960s was something of a golden era for the car 鈥� not that many people had one. Roads were uncongested, highways were replacing railways and independent transport was viewed as a sign of a modern democracy.
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By the 90s the dream had soured a little and environmentalism was no longer seen as the preserve of the kooky. In the UK, the conservation agency English Heritage was protesting against motorway building, pointing out that the government鈥檚 plans would 鈥渄estroy or disturb more than 800 known archaeological sites鈥� (25 October 1990).
Conservationists aren鈥檛 the only threat to car culture. In 2002 we warned of the cat-borne brain-dwelling parasite Toxoplasma gondii, a distant relative of the malaria parasite (26 October 2002). People carrying Toxoplasma reacted about 8 per cent slower than those free of it 鈥� which could be the difference between life and death for those out on the road. We reported that 鈥渉umans with a latent infection are 2.7 times more likely to be involved in a car accident鈥�.
鈥淚t didn鈥檛 matter whether the subject was a driver or a pedestrian, having the parasite made you more of a danger to other road users,鈥� we went on. Have you got it? Toxoplasma infection generally goes undiagnosed, so keep your eye on the road.
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