A Jetpack for Everyone: "Safety is a Relative Thing"

A man from New Zealand has seemingly invented a usable jetpack for the common man, if the common man has around $100,000 to spend on it. (It's not truly a "jetpack" but that's beside the point.) No longer the stuff of James Bond movies, the jet age is now meeting up with the me generation. "It's all about me, and I want to fly around on my own, free as a bird with 250 pounds of stuff anchored on it's back."

I think it's a great idea - sort of. I'd love to do it, to lift off and soar upward, one of these contraptions thrusting me into the sky. But will this be a practical idea for the everyday person? Granted, if enough people have one of these things for personal transportation, surface level traffic would diminish. However, based on my lifelong observation of the driving skills (and I use the word "skills" lightly) of people in the Chicago area, Sunday driving is an everyday occurrence. And no one anywhere in the state of Illinois knows how to merge. No one. So there could be some problems in the skies. And when there's a fender bender at an altitude of say, 200 feet, well, look out below.

Questions remain to be answered regarding this invention. During rush hour, will women be able to apply their make-up while steering a jetpack? Will men be able shave with their portable electric razor while operating a jetpack? And what about cell phone use? I think a hands free device would be optimal.

The jetpack would change so many other things in peoples lives. For instance, tailgating before Bears games would be different. Not much of a tailgate to speak of on these things. There will still need to be one guy in your social group to drive his pick-up or SUV to Soldier Field with all the food and liquid refreshments. And speaking of these refreshments, drinking and flying may be even more dangerous than drinking and driving.

Still, despite all the obstacles that would need to be overcome before there's an individual flight vehicle in every garage, I think there's a future for this mode of transportation. I mean, how cool would a guy look picking up a date by landing a jetpack in front of her house?