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What to do about America's killer cars

economist.com

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Re: What to do about America's killer cars

#11

Post by bryanlarsen »

misun78 wrote: post #3

Let me be the first one to say it - anyone who drives a large pick-up truck for non-commercial reasons is a grade A asshole. SUV drivers aren't that far off, though I sympathize with the game theory element of buying SUVs to protect against other larger cars -- but I would expect you to take accountability and drive slower and safer than smaller cars. These monstrosities are environmentally unfriendly, pedestrian unf…

I wish I had the link, but what I read is that big vehicles do make the occupants safer, but not much safer. For every life saved by driving a big vehicle, 12X as many pedestrian, cyclist and small vehicle occupant lives are lost due to those larger vehicles.

Re: What to do about America's killer cars

#12

Post by khaki54 »

mech975 wrote: post #4

CAFE standards were written in such a way as to encourage large vehicle footprints to work around the requirements of the standards. Motorcycling youtuber fortnine offers a good view on some other aspects of the situation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpuX-5E7xoU

In other words, this problem was caused by a progressive regulation intended to help the environment that had the exact opposite effect intended. They set aggressive targets for MPG that were not able to be reached and still produce a car that people want to drive.

Remember the tiny Ford Ranger or Chevy S10? If they were produced today, they would be expected to have a very high MPG, which would require an engine unsuitable for the task as a truck.

The end result is that vehicles are forced to be unnecessarily large to get put in the class where low MPG engine can be installed.

Re: What to do about America's killer cars

#13

Post by fakename »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #11
misun78 wrote: post #3

Let me be the first one to say it - anyone who drives a large pick-up truck for non-commercial reasons is a grade A asshole. SUV drivers aren't that far off, though I sympathize with the game theory element of buying SUVs to protect against other larger cars -- but I would expect you to take accountability and drive slower and safer than smaller cars. These monstrosities are environmentally unfriendly, pedestrian unf…

I wish I had the link, but what I read is that big vehicles do make the occupants safer, but not much safer. For every life saved by driving a big vehicle, 12X as many pedestrian, cyclist and small vehicle occupant lives are lost due to those larger vehicles.

https://www.economist.com/interactive/united-states/2024/08/...

Re: What to do about America's killer cars

#15

Post by phkahler »

khaki54 wrote: post #12
mech975 wrote: post #4

CAFE standards were written in such a way as to encourage large vehicle footprints to work around the requirements of the standards. Motorcycling youtuber fortnine offers a good view on some other aspects of the situation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpuX-5E7xoU

In other words, this problem was caused by a progressive regulation intended to help the environment that had the exact opposite effect intended. They set aggressive targets for MPG that were not able to be reached and still produce a car that people want to drive. Remember the tiny Ford Ranger or Chevy S10? If they were produced today, they would be expected to have a very high MPG, which would require an engine uns…

Check out the Ford Maverick hybrid. Similar size to trucks 30 years ago with 38mpg. The 2025 gets 4000lbs towing capacity. You can park it in normal sized spots.

Re: What to do about America's killer cars

#16

Post by frogblast »

Given the conclusions in these articles, I'd expect insurance prices for larger vehicles to be substantially higher, because the underwriters have a large incentive to get this right.

My own policy has two drivers with a long flawless history, and several vehicles, including a heavy duty pickup truck and a compact crossover.

The truck policy prices for bodily injury is 8% higher than the crossover, while property damage coverage costs 20% less for the truck.

There appears to be a material difference in conclusion between my insurance underwriters and the producers of these studies on the danger of these vehicles.

Re: What to do about America's killer cars

#17

Post by Slava_Propanei »

danielschonfeld wrote: post #5
misun78 wrote: post #3

Let me be the first one to say it - anyone who drives a large pick-up truck for non-commercial reasons is a grade A asshole. SUV drivers aren't that far off, though I sympathize with the game theory element of buying SUVs to protect against other larger cars -- but I would expect you to take accountability and drive slower and safer than smaller cars. These monstrosities are environmentally unfriendly, pedestrian unf…

Thoughts and prayers are all we have in this country. Nothing will be done about that just as nothing is done about guns or healthcare. Just more thoughts and more prayers.

[dead]

Re: What to do about America's killer cars

#19

Post by mikesickler »

misun78 wrote: post #3

Let me be the first one to say it - anyone who drives a large pick-up truck for non-commercial reasons is a grade A asshole. SUV drivers aren't that far off, though I sympathize with the game theory element of buying SUVs to protect against other larger cars -- but I would expect you to take accountability and drive slower and safer than smaller cars. These monstrosities are environmentally unfriendly, pedestrian unf…

This is a really out of touch take.

Re: What to do about America's killer cars

#20

Post by rob74 »

> The next time you are stuck in traffic, look around you. Not at the cars, but the passengers. If you are in America, the chances are that one in 75 of them will be killed by a car—most of those by someone else’s car.

The author doesn't elaborate if the statistic they're referring to is really only considering car occupants, otherwise I'd say that people should rather look around for pedestrians and cyclists (if there are any in sight of course), because those are even more vulnerable than people in smaller cars...

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