1925--two decades after Ford rolled out the first assembly lined car--there were problems with car crashes and people dying. Francis Houdina believed that people were the problem, not the car. He was an engineer who took it upon himself to look for the newest innovation--get rid of drivers. Cars should be operated by professional drivers via remote control. He didn't believe the average person should be behind the wheel of a car.
Radio waves are new technology and when he gets enough money for a prototype they will feature prominently in his design. He places an antenna on top of the 1926 Chandler automobile that connects to a receiver. The receiver is linked to a special device that can move the steering wheel, press the accelerator, and engage the break. However, the receiver must remain close to the car at all times in order to retain the link. A professional driver would operate the car while following in a car of his own. He called it The American Wonder.
On July, 27 he conducted a public demonstration on the streets of New York City. Houdina stood on the running board of the controlled car while an assistant operated the car that controlled his. The driverless car started up on its own and pulled into traffic like it was being driven by a ghost. The crowd was amazed. The cars were given a police escort down Broadway. Members of the press followed behind them in another car. The car effortlessly turned down Columbus Circle and glides along 55th Street.
When the remote car turns onto 5th Avenue and approaches 47th Street it begins to weave wildly back and forth. Houdina is grabbing hold of the side of the car while running down two trucks and a milk wagon which took to the side of the edge of the road for protection. The assistant, John Alexander, tries to wrestle control of the car back but fails and the car crashes into a press car filled with cameramen. People hurry to see what has happened. The press has a field day with the car's lack of success.
Houdina investigated the steering wheel which is where the problem seemed to lie since it controlled the car's movements. It turned out the steering wheel contraption had become detached and that is what caused it to go out of control. It was such a simple thing that seemed to sink his whole operation in one day. But Houdina did not give up. He went around the United States and gave many demonstrations but the car was never seen as anything more than a novelty item. A little less than a hundred years later and we now have driverless cars only the professional driver is a computer and doesn't have to drive another car a little way down the road to control our cars. It controls our cars from within. But one visionary had an idea of how to make our roadways safer by taking out the bad drivers and saving lives in the process.
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