Would you feel safe or sorry in a Puma?

[Pat Coyle]

Executives from GM and Segway took to the streets yesterday to demonstrate their collaborative electric vehicle on Manhattan's blustery west side. Before an audience of camera shutters and television reporters, the two-seat transporter--dubbed Project PUMA--zipped up and down West 18th street carrying two passengers belted in with racing-style harnesses. While the PUMA didn't hit its 35 mph top speed during the demonstration, it did flaunt its punchy acceleration, turn-in-place agility and almost eerie ability to "bow" much the way city buses do, giving its passengers easier access.

Note the docking station for a smartphone on the steering wheel below. Your smartphone will act as the vehicle's dashboard, and also power what GM calls vehicle-to-vehicle social networking: your PUMA vehicle will network with others to prevent crashes and alert you of nearby friends.

This is all very cool, but do you think you'd ever buy and drive one? Share your thoughts here

[Brian Conradt]

I would drive the heck out of that thing!

[Parke Ladd]

dido. PUMA seems ideal for big city lifestyle. Sign me up!

[Linda J Ranger]

I feel unsafe in a regular car often due to the bad drivers and disrespect for the traffic signals. Thus I would not purchase one for normal city driving and feel it is totally unsafe. Did you see how their arms are hanging out the side and we keep telling the automobile industry that we need better side protection and now the government is trying to regulate the roof structure of vehicles. There is no way these should be allowed on a city street unless the whole town has a posted speed limit of only 25 to 30 MPH.

This would be good for amusement park transportation or mall or airports where it is inside and the speeds are keep low to drive around pedestrians.

[Neil Kirby]

This is reminiscent of the Sinclair C5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5). Never heard of it? No, there's a reason why.

It looks like an act of desperation from GM. With no ability to carry anything it doesn't seem to fit into any market segment and I don't think it has enough appeal to create a market. Sorry, but it looked like a dud to me. And I'd love such a thing to work.

[Annie Sever-Dimitri]

I would love it to pieces! The only problem is that I would be so happy and worked up to drive it that there is a chance that I would peal out all over the place, run over flower beds, etc. It reminds me of a golf cart. I am more pondering a Smart car, though. It would be more practical for what I need it for. The PUMA would just be a toy.

[Adam Yale]

Sign me up! These look like the little cars that I saw all over Amsterdam a few years ago. Europe rolls in these vehicles all the time. It just seems odd here in the good ole' USA where we all like to have giant trucks and SUV's.

Does it have a cup holder?

[Linda J Ranger]

Many ancient town/city roads in Europe (I was in Italy last fall) are very narrow due to the age of the buildings thus when the roads were built it was to accommodate horses and an occasional carriage. That is why a vehicle like the Puma would be popular there since so many roads are not open to cars. Many European cities are only accessible by foot, mass transit or this type of vehicle. Even in Europe once you hit the open road they do not want to go so slow as 35 MPH. That is a lot of extra time to get to point A to B.

I would prefer a car with the features we are used to. In this humidity here in Indiana I would not like to arrive at my client's home after the drive without air-conditioning. Sorry...I am spoiled.

[Denzil 'Val' Crooke]

It would be a great golf car...

[Douglas Karr]

I think they should come with big 360 degree bumpers so commuting can be a contact sport!

[Nicki Laycoax]

How fun!

[Dave Gibbs]

It would be great on a golf course or if I lived on a 1000 acre estate.

[Erik Deckers]

I think it would be a good car to use if we lived somewhere more congested, or had smaller streets, like Italy and Spain. Maybe it would work on Mackinac Island, where they don't allow cars.