Jalopnik's DIY Attempt At Nine-Lives Of Road Safety

If there's one thing we should all remember not to forget, it's to take road safety seriously.  With the toll of crashes, mangled bumpers and casualties small and large growing, some analysts are predicting that one day the highways will be so full of corpses and scrap metal that we might as well get used to the idea of transporting ourselves in hot air balloons.  Something must be done, and who would've thought that the JC Whitney catalogue would be the salvation to our pile-up happy lifestyle.

Jalopnik's Murilee Martin revisited some adolescent lusts and decided to recreate Winky The White Cat, a feline safeguard protecting against tailgaters and those for whom normal lights just aren't furry enough.  Winky, sat on your parcel-shelf, used his flashing eyes to give turn-signals and indication of braking, with all the style and panache unique to an acrylon-like fluffy conductor wearing a satin bow.

Since Winky disappeared from the catalogue many years ago, Murilee instead set himself a challenge: build his own, with only one trip to the junk yard and the thrift store each.  Seeing as how this is the 21st Century and everything has to be sexier, he augmented Winky's blinking eyes with a brow-based third-eye.

So came about Wanky the Safety Cat, half-puppet and half-vintage electronics, all sewn up with love.

Kids, please don't try this at home with a real cat.  They tend not to sit still enough on the parcel shelf.

If you can't buy it, build it: Wanky the Safety Cat [Jalopnik]