About: Universal Driver's License   Sponge Permalink

An Entity of Type : owl:Thing, within Data Space : 134.155.108.49:8890 associated with source dataset(s)

In most action series/computer games, the player character or the hero has the ability to drive any vehicle they come across, be it a little Volkswagen or the biggest earth moving machine on the planet. Even if they've never seen it before, as long as the keys are in it, it's fair game for a joyride or hasty escape. Sometimes the character fails badly and wrecks the vehicle seconds later, protesting "I told you I don't know how to drive one of these!" or else you get a I Know Mortal Kombat, Suddenly Always Knew That or You Didn't Ask answer as to why they didn't crash.

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  • Universal Driver's License
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  • In most action series/computer games, the player character or the hero has the ability to drive any vehicle they come across, be it a little Volkswagen or the biggest earth moving machine on the planet. Even if they've never seen it before, as long as the keys are in it, it's fair game for a joyride or hasty escape. Sometimes the character fails badly and wrecks the vehicle seconds later, protesting "I told you I don't know how to drive one of these!" or else you get a I Know Mortal Kombat, Suddenly Always Knew That or You Didn't Ask answer as to why they didn't crash.
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abstract
  • In most action series/computer games, the player character or the hero has the ability to drive any vehicle they come across, be it a little Volkswagen or the biggest earth moving machine on the planet. Even if they've never seen it before, as long as the keys are in it, it's fair game for a joyride or hasty escape. Sure, we all can be expected to drive about any car or light truck out there, since the controls are more or less standardized, but beyond that realm, most earth-bound vehicles require some specialized training or familiarity with their controls to drive. Even something as common as a motorcycle is beyond the experience of many people (What's that lever on the left handlebar? If you said 'brake' guess again, that thing is your clutch.) Things like bulldozers, tanks, tractor trailers, ships, railroad locomotives, etc. would probably leave an inexperienced person at a loss to use if you dropped them behind the controls in an emergency situation and told them to "get us out of here!" Yet time after time, characters just take off as if they drove one for a living. Sometimes the character fails badly and wrecks the vehicle seconds later, protesting "I told you I don't know how to drive one of these!" or else you get a I Know Mortal Kombat, Suddenly Always Knew That or You Didn't Ask answer as to why they didn't crash. Writers seem to frequently exempt aircraft from this. The plea of "Can anyone here fly a plane?!" when the original pilots get incapacitated is almost a trope by itself. But, everything else out there that doesn't have wings is treated like the family sedan. Holders of this license are usually also qualified as a Crew of One. Sometimes even alien spaceships fall under this rule, though not always. Can be handwaved as an acceptable break from reality. Also see Improbable Piloting Skills. Contrast Driving Stick. Examples of Universal Driver's License include:
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