Walking along a busy and congested street in the city the other day I would walk past stationary traffic, and then it would move off and pass me.

If the vehicles had public footboards and grab rails I could have jumped on as they pulled away, and jumped off and walked when they stopped again.

There would be some kind of congestion charge tax break so that if you fitted your vehicle with these add-ons you would be exempt from road tax or have some other kind of incentive. There would be legal liability waivers so that if I injured myself using them then the car owner or driver would not be liable. There would also be a speed limit so that if the vehicle went at more than e.g. 15mph while I was riding then the car owner or driver would become liable.
-- pocmloc, May 14 2022

Works with cable cars that don't have cars driving next to them as much, don't change lanes etc. https://www.sftodo....-car-san-francisco/
But you'd be killing lots of people daily doing this on a free moving car. [doctorremulac3, May 15 2022]

How about something more like this? http://www.metalcra...tation_trailers_aus
Rails go down allowing you to get on or off only when safe, like at stoplights. [doctorremulac3, May 15 2022]

So pedestrians catch a ride while walking with their attention on their cellphones. I see many accidents and broken bones here.

[+]
-- whatrock, May 14 2022


Dangerous, fun, and nearly practical. You've hit upon the perfect idea!
-- Voice, May 14 2022


So, when traffic clears and the driver wants to go more than 15 mph, they need to come to a stop to let people get off, or do they just give a signal with their horn to tell people to jump off at 15mph before they start going faster?
-- scad mientist, May 15 2022


Yes an automatic beeper I think, perhaps it starts to pip at 10mph, and the pips get faster and more urgent as the car accelerates until at 15mph they become a constant warning siren.

But remember as well, if the people don't get off and the driver goes above 15mph, the driver becomes legally liable for any death injury or mild inconvenience.

On the other hand in the city I was in, the idea of the traffic clearing and the cars going at more than 15mph is an amusing fantasy on a par with all the pubs stopping charging money for their beer.
-- pocmloc, May 15 2022


I think there's something here, but not with hanging on the side of the vehicle. Especially here in San Francisco, I see people being scrubbed off by passing vehicles on an hourly basis. People drive like maniacs here.

Trailers that have handles you jump on that has a display of the path it's going and sends out iPhone signals of were you can go if you grab it? (linky)

There'd still be carnage but maybe a little less.
-- doctorremulac3, May 15 2022


I've done this with friends on their farm driveway (4-wheel- drive with running boards & roof-rack). But letting Joe Public do this in the real world will be chaos.
-- neutrinos_shadow, May 15 2022


Back in middle school one kid decided he'd try to Marty McFly it hanging onto a car on the way to school. He spent a month in traction.
-- RayfordSteele, May 16 2022



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