As if there aren’t enough driver distractions in modern cars, Ford may consider adding another distraction in the form of a water drinking fountain in the front console between the driver and passenger seats.
Riders have already acknowledged driver distractions as their top concern when riding on the road.
Now they could have another distraction to worry about with drivers filling cups with clean, recycled water from their car’s air-conditioning condenser.
The idea comes from Ford engineer Doug Martin who thought the water that drips off the condenser was being wasted.
Doug Martin and his drinking fountainSo he came up with the idea of a drinking fountain he calls On-the-Go H20 and, as his prototype shows, they may put it in the front console.
At 100km/h, a driver taking their eyes off the road for a second will have travelled almost 30m.
We’re not sure how long it would take to fill a cup of water, but you can guarantee it will be several seconds during which time the driver will be distracted ensuring their cup doesn’t runneth over.
Meanwhile, they could runneth over several motorcyclists!
The good news is there are no plans yet for the inclusion of a drinking fountain.
However, if enough drivers want drinking water on the go, you can imagine Ford will supply it, especially in America where drivers already demand larger cup holders than the rest of the world.
In tests, the engineer found a car’s air conditioning system can lose 1.9 litres of water an hour from the condenser, enough to fill several cups of water.
What do you think of a drinking fountain in a car?