The state of New Hampshire in New England, USA, has passed a perplexing law that essentially allows flying cars on its streets. The House Bill 1182, aka “Jetson Bill”, specifically mentions flying cars as “roadable aircraft” and essentially permits their circulation on public roads.
The reason why this is beyond weird is that there are actually no flying cars available in the market, so having anyone worrying about whether or not it would be legal to drive on New Hampshire roads is an unrealistic suggestion. Moreover, we very rarely see legislators doing work to prepare for the future. More often than not, they’re running behind the developments. That said, there’s something else going on with the Jetson Bill.
There are at least two companies that are working feverishly towards the realization of a flying car, namely ‘Terrafugia’ and ‘Samson Sky’. Both are based in the United States, although Terrafugia has already been purchased by the Chinese giant ‘Geely’. The development of the flying car prototypes from the two firms is progressing well, and soon, they will need to perform real-world tests. Obviously, New Hampshire has many reasons for wanting to host these tests, as drawing startups in the state comes with a rich set of benefits that extend to multiple sectors.
One thing to clarify though is that no flying cars will be allowed to take off or land from and to public roads. To do that, you will still need to take your flying car to an airport. Sure, that takes away many of the advantages and much of the awesomeness of owning a flying car, but it would be way too early for legislators to take such a brave decision and allow on-road landings. As for the amendments list, most of what applies to regular vehicle drivers is included in the Jetson Bill.
Image by kalli gruen from Pixabay
