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Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them

economist.com

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Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them

#251

Post by Stagnant »

Kiro wrote: post #155
LUmBULtERA wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except in a lot of places where it’s easy to use public transportation and bikes, it’s still useful to own a car for around town to places a bit further away. Or when it would take you 1.5 hours by public transit (even in areas with good public transit!) vs 0.5 hours by car, on a 110 F day. This thread is about car choice, which doesn’t mean people don’t use other options when they make sense.

You should at least admit that this is an American problem. No-one in my family has a driver's license and it's not an issue whatsoever. There's very little reason to own a car in a society with a functioning public transport system.

I don't think it is fair to say that it is an "American problem". Not owning a car could be realistic if you live in a really large city where moving with public transport can potentially be faster than moving with a car. But even then I wonder how a family with kids would carry groceries unless you live right next to a supermarket.

Often times in HN you get the impression like americans are the only ones using cars to get around, but at least where I live (Finland) families generally own at least one car even if good public transportation is available. In 2021, 89% of adult men and 76% of women had a drivers license and I would say that commuting to work with a car is more common than with public transport. Despite having decent public transportation, it is just seen more convenient to use the car.

Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them

#252

Post by notdang »

galkk wrote: post #204
Tanoc wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is true to a ridiculous extent. Ford has no compact hatchback or sedan in the U.S., only the Brazilian built EcoSport. They killed all their cars in favour of CUVs and SUVs. Chevrolet no longer has the Sonic, having nixed those in 2022. Honda no longer has the Fit as of two years ago. Mitsubishi no longer sells the Mirage as of last month. Dodge hasn't had anything since the Dart died in 2016. The Jeep Renegade'…

Sedans are useless. I consider them car evolution dead end. They take as much road space as their counterparts, but carry less. Hatchback, universal, minivan, suvs are much more practical.

Carry less of what? It's the same number of people inside.

Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them

#253

Post by ncruces »

closewith wrote: post #184
AdrianB1 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We do it different in Europe: pay disproportionate by engine displacement. My father's car has 10x the taxes as my mother's car just because the engine is 1.6 times larger (2.5 liters, nothing outrageous). At the same time my mother pays for that car quite close to what I pay for each of my bikes that are 8-10 times lighter and have way smaller engines (300cc and 600cc).

Where in Europe is that? In Ireland, displacement-based taxes were replaced by emission taxes 14 years ago. I think most countries have followed suite.

Which is a much better system. My country (Portugal) still does mostly displacement, and a turbo-charged 1 liter pays a lot less than a naturally aspirated 1.6 hybrid, despite the former consuming 50% more gas.

Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them

#254

Post by hermitcrab »

PaulHoule wrote: post #175
tootie wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any politician saying we should limit motor vehicle size would committing career suicide. That would be a slam dunk wedge issue for Republicans.

Could be the opposite. Part of the problem is that carmakers refuse to sell small cars. If you don’t believe me try to buy a small car at a car dealership in America. Consumers are angry about rising costs, particularly for automobiles, and having a choice to buy an affordable vehicle could be surprisingly popular. For instance I think electric vehicle adoption is stalled because there aren’t many people who can affo…

>Part of the problem is that carmakers refuse to sell small cars. If you don’t believe me try to buy a small car at a car dealership in America.

Driving a small compact car on an American freeway would be terrifying. I have a small (by US standards) car at home, but I hired a big (by European standards) car when holidaying in the US.

It is notieable that there are more and more huge SUVs and pickups appearing in the UK, even though our roads and parking spaces are not designed for them.

Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them

#255

Post by PsylentKnight »

dgfitz wrote: post #140
globular-toast wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment shows how bad car culture is. You think you're the enlightened one, but you want an electric sports car for getting "around town"? People should be walking or cycling around town. Cars are actively harmful to towns. Cars have led to generations of people who don't realise they are capable of walking further than a few steps between car and building. A kind of learned helplessness. When you step outside o…

> People should be walking or cycling around town. This. Is a very out of touch opinion. I could write 20 paragraphs disagreeing, but I doubt it is worth my time to write or anyone else’s to read. Not every person is able-bodied enough to walk and bike. Also, people happen to need to get from A to B when it is cold, dark, raining, extremely hot, snowing, or just some kind of shitty outside. People need to drive to a…

You really think it's not possible to buy food without a car? Classic American, claiming X thing is an impossible pie-in-the-sky dream when there are loads of other countries that do X thing just fine.

Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them

#256

Post by hermitcrab »

dionian wrote: post #34
xwall wrote: post #15

Key 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.

Check out:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons

Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them

#257

Post by orwin »

tialaramex wrote: post #240
Eumenes wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must drive a smaller car so others around you are safer. Just like how you have to vaccinated to protect others. Its part of the social contract that you signed, duh.

Actually medical ethics rejects herd immunity as the purpose of vaccination. All the recommended vaccinations are because the benefit to the individual vaccinated significantly outweighs the cost to them. Herd immunity is a public health benefit but ethically it wouldn't be enough to justify the intervention. For HPV for example, the reason there's a period when it was given to girls not boys is that the evidence was…

I caught the bad HPV variant early in my sex life (the one with buttons on the thighs, I think it's HPV 9 but my memory is fuzzy) and still have scars, as well as a long period of shame and shyness, so get vaccinated young guys, especially if you go in a hippy squat :D

Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them

#258

Post by kwhitefoot »

AstralJaeger wrote: post #181
creer wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They drive with a discipline / care that Americans refuse to even consider. Perhaps Americans should.

As someone who regularly drives on German highways, including the Autobahn, I may ad my two cents. While German drivers are often praised for their discipline, the reality I've observed, especially in unlimited speed sections of the Autobahn, can be quite different. Many drivers there seem to focus primarily on their perceived right to drive as fast as they want, often creating dangerous situations for others who may…

> the reality I've observed, especially in unlimited speed sections of the Autobahn, can be quite different.

My experience is that it depends on where in Germany you are. I drove from France to Norway this week so I went through northern Germany and the autobahn was great, where it wasn't restricted because of the more or less permanent roadworks that is. I drive on Tesla Autopilot when I can which has a maximum speed of 150 kph and only once in the 600 km from Venlo to Flensburg did I notice someone get too close behind me even though many were travelling considerably faster.

It's a different story further south around Munich for instance.

I agree though that road safety in Europe has a lot to do with road design, vehicle standards, maintenance, driver education, etc.

Re: Americans' love affair with big cars is killing them

#260

Post by thallium205 »

creer wrote: post #159
toddmorey wrote: post #57

Germany has a ratio of 3.9 deaths per 100,000 people, while America's ratio is 12.4 per 100,000—essentially 4x higher. And they have the autobahn. Not like they are driving slower.

They drive with a discipline / care that Americans refuse to even consider. Perhaps Americans should.

Germany is barely the size of New Mexico. Talk about an apples to orange comparison…

Broken down by state, I’m sure there are states that are safer than Germany.

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