# Driving an invisible car **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-an-invisible-car/543721 "2010-06-18T22:31:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Drew\_Kit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Drew\_Kit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drew_Kit)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-an-invisible-car/543721/21 "2010-06-20T02:10:53Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > Ok, let’s say Batman had an invisible car that worked the same way as Wonder Woman’s invisible jet. Is there any benefit to this?him? The same benefit, it would save on budget. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-an-invisible-car/543721/22 "2010-06-20T19:31:23Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > Ok, let’s say Batman had an invisible car that worked the same way as Wonder Woman’s invisible jet. > > Is there any benefit to this? Or would other drivers just constantly be driving into him? The most obvious benefit would being able to park in no-parking areas. I could also see some advantages when Batman has to pick up somebody at the airport. It would also get him out of a lot of tickets for speeding and running traffic lights. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-an-invisible-car/543721/23 "2010-06-20T19:45:46Z")
> [@Nicolas\_Bourbaki](#): > > They are if you’re in a cloud, flying at night, True, and so obvious I did not think worth mentioning. > [@](#): > > or just about any possible weather condition short of ‘absolutely perfect’. Not true. My point stands that it is possible to fly a plane without seeing the instruments. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-an-invisible-car/543721/24 "2010-06-21T02:10:47Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > True, and so obvious I did not think worth mentioning.Not true. My point stands that it is possible to fly a plane without seeing the instruments. So for about…12 hours, during the summer, depending on latitude? Depending on speed and direction of travel. If Wonder Woman gets to wear night vision goggles, that’d help. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-an-invisible-car/543721/25 "2010-06-21T05:21:47Z")
Yeah, 12 hours out of the year. I’m sure that’s about right. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-an-invisible-car/543721/26 "2010-06-21T07:14:43Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > Yeah, 12 hours out of the year. I’m sure that’s about right. I meant “per day”—but depending on maintenance requirements from scraping birds out of the invisible canopy and engines, 12 hours of useful flying time per year might not be THAT far off. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-an-invisible-car/543721/27 "2010-06-21T07:34:52Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > I meant “per day” :smack: Sometimes I get a little defensive – but only when discussing really important stuff, you understand. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-an-invisible-car/543721/28 "2010-06-21T08:21:11Z")
Valet parking would be a bitch too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-an-invisible-car/543721/29 "2010-06-21T11:35:22Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > It’s going to be a real bitch to figure out when he needs to get gas, I’ll tell you _that_ right now… I kinda like the idea of visible fluids in an invisible car or plane. You see not only Batman, but a large volume of gas, and a 3-D network of fluids all around him. Brake fluid, hydraulics in the shock absorbers, oil everywhere… You would even see all the cylinder explosions. Kind of hard to be stealthy when you have several thousand small flashes every minute. Does an invisible Batmobile need windshield washer fluid? ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-an-invisible-car/543721/30 "2010-06-21T13:19:27Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I don’t know if we’ve ever discussed this before, but this brings up the whole question of “how the heck can the Batmobile not get followed by the authorities?” It would make more sense for Batman to drive a fairly nondescript car (which I believe he did in the 1970s era). Or an invisible car might work if you mean the car and everything inside it was invisible, like how it’s hypothetically possible to build a container that bends light completely around it. Yes but if you see anormal nondescript car driven by a man dressed as a giant bat its still a bit of a giveaway. He dresses that way because he’s a coward, “Hey look bad guys I’m sneaking up on you , look at me bads guys” “Oh look they’ve buggered off!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-an-invisible-car/543721.md?page=1)