Real-life driving is not Frogger
Has it occurred to anyone else but me that driving seems like a big dangerous game of Frogger for some people.
In the game, licensed and distributed by Sega/Gremlin in 1981, the frog travels through traffic on the first level. Obstacles consist of cars, trucks, buses, taxis and bicyclists. He must navigate across the road and avoid becoming ‘road kill.’
Once that first level is complete, the frog goes through a river. In the river there are logs and turtles which he can jump on to make it to the other side. However, he must avoid alligators, snakes and otters in the river. If he can’t, he dies.
Each level is timed and a player must act quickly to finish each level in time. If the time runs out, one life is lost.
Although I haven’t played it in years, I remember the game was fun. Once I got the hang of it, I remember dodging all the obstacles and making it to the other side quite frequently. However, before I got the hang of it, I remember dying often and hitting the reset button.
To be honest, I can’t remember if I ever made it to the end of the whole game. I do remember wishing for more lives and wearing out the reset button.
In my comparison, I see people repeatedly changing lanes in an effort to get around what they view as ‘obstacles’ and using the side of the road to go around ‘obstacles’ in their way.
Much like the game and in real life, a player must get somewhere safely. For those of us in the real world, that is home, work and the store.
Unlike the game, real life seems to have more than one player. We are playing against other players. There is more than one category ‘ those who just want to survive the game, and those who want to make the game a little more exciting.
Those who want to survive the trip appear to be the main obstacles. People who want to make the game more exciting are those dodging around other vehicles.
Just the other day, I was traveling behind a truck (like the ones used by utility companies) and in front of a shiny SUV. I did notice two things that would come into play shortly ‘ the truck didn’t have plates on the back and the SUV behind me was following way too close.
Without even touching the brakes, the truck left the road. As it moved out of the way, I could see an older woman in a little car was sitting in the road with her blinker on waiting to turn. Instinctively, I put on my brakes and looked into my rear view mirror.
The SUV, which had been following too close to me all the way down the road, had put on its brakes and was right up on me. I knew it was going to hit me if I stopped, so I left the road and went around the lady sitting in the road. Following suit, so did the SUV.
Although the truck could have been leaving the road to turn, this was not the case. Once past the ‘obstacle’ the driver once again entered the road and kept going. Behind me, and visibly shaken, the SUV driver at least kept a respectable distance from then on.
I’m not quite sure if the older lady in the car knew how close we came to not getting from point A to point B without being ‘road kill’ but the driver of the SUV did. I’m quite sure the driver of the truck, which almost caused the accident, didn’t notice and didn’t care.
As much fun as the game Frogger was, playing it in real life isn’t. There are two big differences between real life and the game that some frogs just aren’t getting. In real life, players don’t get another life and there’s no reset button.
Lisa Hobbs is a reporter for the Standard. She can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].