Lightning Reactions

Sir,

I see there is a current fashion for attaching strips to the backs of cars, presumably to act as a sort of lightning conductor, in this case to earth static electricity so as to prevent travel sickness. What intrigues me is the fact that, even at rest, the strips rarely touch the ground and, at speed, they wave in the air.

Either way it is a futile exercise. Travel sickness is basically giddiness caused by a lack of equilibrium in the inner ear. This is why drivers are never travel sick for they instinctively incline their heads when the car changes direction. Passengers who wish to avoid travel sickness merely have to follow the road ahead with their eyes.

One other thing I have noticed is that people whose level of thought is such that they pay out good money for these useless strips are invariably poor drivers. It is, I suppose, thoughtful of them that they display these visible warnings to the rest of us just as other incompetents advertise the fact by hanging fluffy dice etc from their interior mirrors.

Anthony Evans