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| ==Explanation== | | ==Explanation== |
| + | {{incomplete| π§ π¨}} |
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β | In this comic the couple [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] want to rent a car. The [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Cueball-like guy]] from the {{w|car rental}} agency tells them they only have two vehicles available:
| + | This comic suggests that given a choice between a haunted (and occasionally murderous car) and one with a faulty GPS that cannot be turned off, it is a more popular choice to take the "murder car." |
β | * One car that puts its occupants into mortal danger, so much such that it is called ''The Murder Car''. The danger, however, is abstractβthe car is haunted by a {{w|ghost}}, and actual death befalls only "maybe one in six". (That is the equivalent of a round of {{w|Russian Roulette}}.) This is the fatality rate for drivers (in this case, Megan), while the rate for passengers is not mentioned.
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β | * The other car, a regular {{w|Sedan (automobile)|sedan}}, has a defective {{w|GPS}} that incessantly gives instructions to go specifically to {{w|Seattle}}, regardless of the driver's intention to go there, and it cannot be turned off.
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β | Megan believes she can ignore this and accepts the less lethal car. The comic suggests that driving with a GPS that tries to guide you to a different destination than that which you wish to visitβso it is always recalculating and asking you to do U-turnsβis incredibly annoying. So annoying that given the choice between the persistent low-level annoyance of the GPS on one hand, and the ("low") probability of being murdered on the other, most people will choose the latter option. After all, they might survive murderous ghosts but they feel they will not survive long having to listen to the broken GPS.
| + | The title text suggests that even murderous ghosts are put off by the broken GPS. |
| + | ==Transcript== |
| + | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
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β | According to the title text, the murderous ghosts haunt both cars, but as soon as the car starts driving and the GPS begins to drone on, even the ghost cannot stand listening to the broken GPS and stops possessing it.
| + | 4 panels, 3rd is not bordered |
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β | Apart from the joke about GPS, this is also a subtle joke on the horrible cars one might get at a car rental service.
| + | Panel 1: A desk with items, part of a car rental office. Cueball is on the left, and two customers, Megan and another Cueball-like person is on the right |
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β | It is also possible that the car rental service is trying to drive people away from the haunted car, which we can assume is just a normal car, to get more profit when people come back and take the "haunted" car when their GPS is broken.
| + | Cueball:- |
| + | We have two rental cars left. |
| + | One is the murder car. But don't let the name scare you! |
| + | It's definitely haunted. But most drivers don't get murdered. |
| + | Maybe One in Six. |
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β | ==Transcript==
| + | Panel 2: Same scene as panel 1 |
β | :[A Cueball-like guy standing behind a desk looking at a computer screen services Megan and Cueball on the other side of the desk.] | + | Cueball:- |
β | :Guy: We have two rental cars left.
| + | The Other is a regular sedan. |
β | :Guy: One is the murder car. But don't let the name scare you!
| + | But is has a GPS that's stuck trying to navigate to Seattle. |
β | :Guy: It's definitely haunted. But most drivers don't get murdered.
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β | :Guy: Maybe one in six.
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β | :[The guy lifts his hand and looks at Megan and Cueball.]
| + | Megan:- |
β | :Guy: The other is a regular sedan. | + | ...I can ignore it, right? That's fine. |
β | :Guy: But it has a GPS that's stuck trying to navigate to Seattle, and you canβt turn it off.
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β | :Megan: ...I can ignore it, right? That's fine.
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β | :[In a frame-less panel Megan and Cueball drive in the sedan.] | + | Panel 3: Megan and Cueball-2 has taken the sedan |
β | :GPS: ''Turn left''
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β | :GPS: ''Recalculating''
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β | :GPS: ''Make a U-turn''
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β | :GPS: ''Recalculating''
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β | :GPS: ''Turn right''
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β | :GPS: ''Make a U-turn''
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β | :GPS: ''Recalculating''
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β | :[Megan and Cueball walk back into the agency with the guy behind his desk. Megan holds out the car keys in one hand.] | + | GPS:- |
β | :Guy: Back already?
| + | Turn Left |
β | :Megan: We'll take the murder car.
| + | Recalculating |
β | :Guy: Popular choice.
| + | Make a U-Turn |
| + | Recalculating |
| + | Turn Right |
| + | Make a U-Turn |
| + | Recalculating |
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β | ==Trivia==
| + | Panel 4: Megan and Cueball-2 are back at the rental |
β | *With an estimated 1.25 million vehicular deaths globally in 2013[http://www.who.int/gho/road_safety/mortality/traffic_deaths_number/en/] and approx. 1,187 million vehicles on the road in the same year [https://www.statista.com/statistics/281134/number-of-vehicles-in-use-worldwide/], the number of fatalities per vehicle comes to be around 0.1% or about 1 in 950. This number includes trucks and commecial vehicles.
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β | * As of 2014, there were 253 million cars on the road in the US [http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-ihs-automotive-average-age-car-20140609-story.html] and only 32,675 deaths [https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812246], giving a rate of fatalities per car of slightly over 0.01%, or 1 in 7,700)
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β | * The car lethality risk is lower in the US by a factor of 8, compared to the worldwide vehicular lethality risk.
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β | *The global number of haunted cars is not available, but believed to be at least five in number. [http://www.autoblog.com/2014/10/31/five-cursed-haunted-cars/]
| + | Cueball:- |
| + | Back already? |
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β | *Similarly, while the number of faulty car GPS devices is not available, Garmin recalled 1.3 million Nuvi GPS units in 2011. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/26/garmin-gps-recall-nuvi_n_695967.html] These recalls were not for bad directions, but for fire hazards.
| + | Megan:- |
| + | We'll take the murder car. |
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β | *There are records of several {{w|Death by GPS | deaths resulting from following faulty GPS directions or maps}}, particularly while traveling in unfamiliar or difficult terrain. [http://www.newser.com/story/214008/woman-killed-after-gps-takes-her-to-wrong-street.html] [http://www.npr.org/2011/07/26/137646147/the-gps-a-fatally-misleading-travel-companion] [https://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/05/death-by-gps/]
| + | Cueball:- |
| + | Popular Choice. |
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| {{comic discussion}} | | {{comic discussion}} |
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β | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
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β | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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β | [[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
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