Hammer Time: Biohazard Cars

Do you know what a biohazard is? Different industries have different standards for the word. In the auction business it means any vehicle where the occupants blood stained the interior. A few drops. An open gash. If a person had the misfortune of bleeding or dying in their car, it will be announced at an auction as a ‘Biohazard’.

Most of these vehicles are sold at’salvage auctions such as Copart & Insurance Auto Auctions. The general public feels queasy about these vehicles for good reason, and I always thought it would be a neat idea to group some of these cars together and have nearby high school students and DUI offenders visit the carnage.

Then again, maybe biohazard vehicles should be exhibited for a far broader audience.

Warning Signs: Signs are everywhere these days. But what about a smashed up car instead? When SUV Sally and her gifted progeny go forth with their texting and talking, signs don’t really matter too much to them.

Curves ahead. Drive slow. Warning. Not even the courteous ‘Stop Sign Ahead’ looks like anything more than scenery when Darwin’s future companions are trying to distinguish between the Q and W on their cell phone.

But a wrecked car with the words ‘Warning – Biohazard’? Could it be a zombie apocalypse? Throw that warning along with the obligatory traffic sign a hundred feet down or so. That would likely give them a lot of extra pause. Hopefully… maybe…

Humiliation: This wouldn’t necessarily be a biohazard vehicle. But what about a vehicle that is wrecked through extreme carelssness. Drinking. Texting. Talking. Random acts of extreme vehicular stupidity often require more than a ticket to remedy in the long run.

Those who cross this barrier should be subject to a public display. Especially if they have dropped their insurance or affected the lives of other people. That’s why some judges have seen fit to display cars to the open public. I would go even further. Have the vehicle displayed on the perpetrator’s driveway for an extended period of time. I’m sure a homeowners association would fight the idea tooth and nail. Tough. In my world this would be considered killing two birds with one stone.

Perspective: A lot of drivers consider driving to be a right. It’s not. But automobiles are essential transportation for a lot of us. That’s one of the many reasons why driving tests are so feared in this country.

Every state has their own standards for when someone needs to be taken off the road. Older folks. Even those of us fighting diseases or other frailties may find that we’re no longer safe drivers.

I think displaying a couple of these vehicles in areas where driving tests are performed would help defuse a lot of the anger that comes when someone fails a driver’s test. When you see the potential outcomes of what can happen when a driver loses their skills and judgment, you’re less likely to feel victimized.

The debate on safety has it’s extremes on both sides of the fence. So what do you think? Should wrecked and/or biohazard vehicles become more prominent as warning devices? Or we at a healthy medium where these graphic displays of death and suffering would have minimal impact on a bad driver’s behavior? What says you?