Florida Dog takes Florida Man's car for a heckin' fun ride!

November 22, 2019 11:19 PM

After years of tales about the wild and wonderful adventures of Florida Man, it's high time Florida Man's Dog has its day!
posted by Lizard (12 comments total)

Florida. We're on it.
posted by ryanrs at 12:29 AM on November 23, 2019 [18 favorites]

I love this story.
posted by frumiousb at 12:36 AM on November 23, 2019 [2 favorites]

There’s something about a dog unintentionally setting itself into aimless circular backwards motion that is soooooo 2019.

Good boy, Max, very topical.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:57 AM on November 23, 2019 [11 favorites]

This all seemed pretty reasonable until the bit about it lasting an hour. Wow. Designing a robot to do that, given how small the space appears and the uneven ground, would take real effort. A car doing it randomly by itself is really impressive.

It's a shame we don't get to hear the 911 audio.

Also, who keeps a second key fob on their person while driving a car with a door code? I wonder if this guy's had similar things happen before.
posted by eotvos at 6:44 AM on November 23, 2019 [2 favorites]

A car doing it randomly by itself is really impressive.

You're not giving the dog any credit?
posted by linux at 6:52 AM on November 23, 2019 [12 favorites]

Most cars going in reverse will cram the wheels into a tight turn, I guess because steering geometry? I remember this happened to a car in a Seven-Eleven parking lot back in the early 80’s. One of our local police officers managed to get inside the circle and was able to leap in and apply the brake, but it circled bumping over the curb for fifteen minutes or so. I think it was circling a phone pole and a fire hydrant, too. No dog and no internet so no one remembers, though.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 7:34 AM on November 23, 2019 [4 favorites]

He's a good dog, Bort. But a bad driver.
posted by Splunge at 8:22 AM on November 23, 2019 [3 favorites]

I appreciate these wholesome vehicular shenanigans.
posted by cortex at 10:11 AM on November 23, 2019 [3 favorites]

Does the news story about this have a picture of Max the dog? I couldn't find one, and was disappointed that I couldn't see the canine who accomplished this notable feat.
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 11:00 AM on November 23, 2019 [4 favorites]

OK, there's a pic of Max in this story in The Guardian.

He looks like a good boy, and the story also includes this quote: "Sabol (a neighbor quoted for the story) said the dog was in high spirits after it was rescued, saying it “jumped out of the car, wagging his tail”."
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 5:13 PM on November 23, 2019 [4 favorites]

take this down NOW!! Dogs only do that when theyre VERY DEPRESSED
posted by Reyturner at 9:50 PM on November 23, 2019 [1 favorite]

Most cars going in reverse will cram the wheels into a tight turn, I guess because steering geometry

So you know how a car will straighten when you’re going forward and you let go of the steering wheel? It’s the opposite in reverse; the car will take any change of direction to the extreme if you let go of the wheel. This is something you really have to get used to if you drive a forklift, because they’re steered with the rear wheels. You have to constantly straighten them because otherwise if the wheels are turned and you’re not holding the steering wheel, it’s going to go in a circle. (And if there’s too much speed, it’ll overturn, which is something you really really don’t want in a forklift.)
posted by azpenguin at 11:43 PM on November 23, 2019 [3 favorites]