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Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

economist.com

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Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#301
post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I replaced my 3-series BMW with a Honda Odyssey, and I've spent two years singing its praises. Part of the problem is that we have created a culture that uses cars as a form of self expression, and many early parents aren't ready to "be" a minivan. But the minivan is what you actually want as a parent: room for six people of any size, or four people and at least twice as much cargo as an SUV, with safe, remote contro…

Twice as much cargo as an SUV? We have both a minivan (Toyota sienna) and an SUV (Chevy Suburban) and the SUV easily has quadruple the cargo space as the minivan.

A Suburban is a "full size SUV", which weighs, drives, and has the fuel economy of a truck. Minivans are closer in size, weight, fuel economy, and cost to the car derived "mid size SUVs", but they have much more cargo space. Still, the Odyssey claims roughly the same amount of "maximum interior cargo volume" as the Suburban, and almost twice that of the "most popular SUV", the midsize Ford Explorer. It's highly optimized for providing interior space: where the spare tire should be is a deep tub for cargo or to hold the folded down rear seats. The actual spare tire is located in the second row footwell, though you could never tell.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#302
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity: why do you ride without a helmet?

Because they do not improve outcomes when a driver runs you over, the speeds involved are simply too high. When you do mountainbiking, a helmet protects you, speeds are lower, but not on the public roads.

In cities many accidents actually happen at relatively low speeds, e.g. the right hook, or dooring, or slipping on oil or wet leaves.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Twice as much cargo as an SUV? We have both a minivan (Toyota sienna) and an SUV (Chevy Suburban) and the SUV easily has quadruple the cargo space as the minivan.

Sienna 33.5 ft³, 101 ft³ seats down Suburban 41.5 ft³, 144.7 ft³ Suburban is almost 2 feet longer.

What year Sienna? Ours is from 2000 and is tiny compared to modern Siennas.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#304
post #262

This is an actual conversation I had to have with my wife, having a third kid definitely requires a larger vehicle as the vast majority of cars today simply don't work for a family of five. Child car seats are too wide and the backseats of most cars are too narrow, and the price jump to a vehicle that would be able to handle three child car seats at once is enormous. Throw in some dogs, a couple pieces of luggage tha…

I replaced my 3-series BMW with a Honda Odyssey, and I've spent two years singing its praises. Part of the problem is that we have created a culture that uses cars as a form of self expression, and many early parents aren't ready to "be" a minivan. But the minivan is what you actually want as a parent: room for six people of any size, or four people and at least twice as much cargo as an SUV, with safe, remote contro…

I recommend an aftermarket trailer hitch as well for the minivan. Our last vacation we fit 2, adults, 2 kids, our dog in his full sized crate, all of our luggage, and 4 bicycles on a hitch rack. Pretty sweet!

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#305

Child #3 is about to be born any day now. I was shocked to learn that we just can't get three car seats into the back of our Model 3. Fortunately the other vehicle is a minivan, but the rear row can seat 3 without car seats, or two with car seats. This means we can no longer fit grandparents with all kids.

Look into the Radian and the Clek. I’d be surprised if they don’t work.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Put the helmet on the bike?

Not particularly secure (unless you go to the expense of getting a second lock for the bike helmet) and depending on the configuration of the bike parking where you are, may not fit with other bikes parked.

If you are using a U lock, You could thread a simple, short steel cable through the large foam helmet holes and the lock. It would be nearly no extra weight and a trivial amount of time and effort. I locked my helmet to my bike all the time when I lived in the city. I think it is worth the tiny inconvenience to bring the helmet unless you are doing some very mellow biking on well protected trails.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#307
post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I replaced my 3-series BMW with a Honda Odyssey, and I've spent two years singing its praises. Part of the problem is that we have created a culture that uses cars as a form of self expression, and many early parents aren't ready to "be" a minivan. But the minivan is what you actually want as a parent: room for six people of any size, or four people and at least twice as much cargo as an SUV, with safe, remote contro…

Twice as much cargo as an SUV? We have both a minivan (Toyota sienna) and an SUV (Chevy Suburban) and the SUV easily has quadruple the cargo space as the minivan.

[deleted]

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#308

This is an actual conversation I had to have with my wife, having a third kid definitely requires a larger vehicle as the vast majority of cars today simply don't work for a family of five. Child car seats are too wide and the backseats of most cars are too narrow, and the price jump to a vehicle that would be able to handle three child car seats at once is enormous. Throw in some dogs, a couple pieces of luggage tha…

When I was young, this was what minivans were for: families with three kids.

When I was young you could fit 6 in a sedan and 8 in a station wagon. Bench seats in the front have gone away (I assume due to airbags). We didn't have a big family, but on car-pools, I was the smallest so I always got stuck straddling the stick shift for the cars that had the shifter on the floor.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#309

This is an actual conversation I had to have with my wife, having a third kid definitely requires a larger vehicle as the vast majority of cars today simply don't work for a family of five. Child car seats are too wide and the backseats of most cars are too narrow, and the price jump to a vehicle that would be able to handle three child car seats at once is enormous. Throw in some dogs, a couple pieces of luggage tha…

When my partner and I had our third, the Mazda 5 was our compromise vehicle— still has sliding doors and the overall aesthetics of a minivan, but drives like a car, gets decent gas mileage, and has a footprint comparable to a CUV for the purposes of parking and so-on. We may well go to a full size van at some point, but once the kids are no longer babies, they actually travel somewhat lighter— no stroller, playpen, d…

I would have bought a Mazda 5 if they still sold them. However, I don't live in a great place for buying used.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#310

This is an actual conversation I had to have with my wife, having a third kid definitely requires a larger vehicle as the vast majority of cars today simply don't work for a family of five. Child car seats are too wide and the backseats of most cars are too narrow, and the price jump to a vehicle that would be able to handle three child car seats at once is enormous. Throw in some dogs, a couple pieces of luggage tha…

> the vast majority of cars today simply don't work for a family of five Yes, but only if you count by unique line items. If you count by market share, the large family market is well served. “S.U.V.s made up 47.4 percent of U.S. sales in 2019 with sedans at 22.1 percent,” said Tom Libby, automotive analyst at IHS Markit. “By 2025, we see the light-truck segment that includes S.U.V.s, vans and pickups to make up 78 p…

There are plenty of SUVs that won't fit 3 car seats in back any better than a Civic.
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