Still driving my truck, sorry.
Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them
41–50 of 429 posts
Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anecdotally I'm having trouble finding certain small cars in stock (e.g. crown platinum) and suspect there is some self-interest in the dealership to explains this. I think car-buyers are often under an illusion that an suv is "more car" when actually it's exact same components and just a larger frame. They'd much prefer to sell you the high-margin product and pocket the difference.
Subaru Impreza and Crosstrek are a good example of that. Same engine, same electronics, same everything except a slightly differently shaped shell on the outside. Even the interior volume is practically the same!
That one is especially confusing to me because they even have the imprezza hatchback which likes identical to a crosstrek if you squint your eyes. Maybe they don’t sell that one anymore?
Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them
#43Key Ideas: Heavier vehicles are safer for their occupants but more dangerous for others: The weight of a vehicle is a critical factor in car crashes, with heavier vehicles causing more fatalities in other cars, pedestrians, and cyclists. The heaviest vehicles kill more people than they save: Analysis of crash data shows that for every life saved by the heaviest 1% of SUVs and trucks, more than a dozen lives are lost…
Another thing when it comes to large heavy vehicles being more dangerous, is that our current guard rail design has become something that is increasingly likely to kill you. There’s a channel dedicated to the subject due to the creators personal tragedy with them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrR81g1ZkRQ
Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them
#44Key Ideas: Heavier vehicles are safer for their occupants but more dangerous for others: The weight of a vehicle is a critical factor in car crashes, with heavier vehicles causing more fatalities in other cars, pedestrians, and cyclists. The heaviest vehicles kill more people than they save: Analysis of crash data shows that for every life saved by the heaviest 1% of SUVs and trucks, more than a dozen lives are lost…
Sounds like a heavier car is actually safer to put me and my loved ones inside, at least for now.
Sounds like it's safest for me and my family to physically prevent you from doing that.
See how deranged this line of escalation is? How sick in the soul I would have to be to choose to harm your family to increase the safety of mine? Can you see what kind of world you're building when you advocate this?
Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them
#45Key Ideas: Heavier vehicles are safer for their occupants but more dangerous for others: The weight of a vehicle is a critical factor in car crashes, with heavier vehicles causing more fatalities in other cars, pedestrians, and cyclists. The heaviest vehicles kill more people than they save: Analysis of crash data shows that for every life saved by the heaviest 1% of SUVs and trucks, more than a dozen lives are lost…
Sounds like a heavier car is actually safer to put me and my loved ones inside, at least for now.
Consider increasing the size of your tribe.
Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems like the market isn't working.
It clearly is. As the article makes out, the tax code and regulation favours large vehicles. Gas is cheap. Acting alone, there are few reasons to buy a smaller car if you can afford a bigger one. This is exactly the market “working” and why regulation is necessary to change it.
Gas is artificially cheap, but it's at enormous expense to the global community.
The US spent $2T on the gulf wars to secure this, and globally spend at least $7T a year on fossil subsidies. This needs to end immediately.
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2023/08/22/IMF...
Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them
#47Key Ideas: Heavier vehicles are safer for their occupants but more dangerous for others: The weight of a vehicle is a critical factor in car crashes, with heavier vehicles causing more fatalities in other cars, pedestrians, and cyclists. The heaviest vehicles kill more people than they save: Analysis of crash data shows that for every life saved by the heaviest 1% of SUVs and trucks, more than a dozen lives are lost…
> Carmakers prioritize consumer preferences over safety: Manufacturers are producing increasingly heavier vehicles, driven by consumer demand for larger, more powerful cars, despite the safety risks to others.
That is prioritizing safety - of the very customers themselves, whose preferences very much do include safety! Sounds like the market functioning exactly as designed. And sounds like we need regulation here.
Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems like the market isn't working.
I was thinking exactly that - shouldn’t capitalism regulate this kind of thing on it’s own or something
The idea that "capitalism" somehow magically makes everybody do exactly what any particular person or set of persons want to happen is fascinating. How could one arrive to such a conclusion? No, that's not how "capitalism" works. It does not guarantee that the things you want to happen magically will happen because "market".
Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them
#49This is a regulatory incentive problem, plain and simple:
1. CAFE standards use different rules for cars and light trucks. It’s a protectionist move that strongly pushes manufacturers to find ways to get CUV’s on the road instead of hatch backs and sedans. 2. And CAFE uses a “footprint formula” that relaxes standards for larger vehicles. 3. Compound that with a side impact test that started at 3,015 lbs (high) and then was amplified by the (private) IIHS test raising their sled weight (4,200 lbs?) to reflect average fleet weight, which turns into an arms race.
In the end, people respond to incentives, and we get the cars we regulated for.