Anecdotally, it's not just the size of the cars that makes them dangerous, it's the driving style of the people that buy them. When I look at how people drive in my area (a smaller town in Canada), it's very often the people in the biggest trucks that are the ones tailgating, speeding, crossing double lines to pass on a dangerous section, etc etc. I've never understood this. If anything, driving such an enormous car would make me extra careful.
Even if you accept this article’s factual claims to be true, the derived conclusion that the only fix is to downsize cars is ridiculous. Technology (like the resolution of cameras, accuracy of automatic braking, etc) can be improved. Drivers can be less distracted if they have physical controls instead of touchscreens. Pedestrians can choose to cross only when they have a walk sign instead of when they don’t. Street lighting can be improved (since most of these happen at night). And so on.
But I also don’t see why this is a problem worth addressing any faster than what technology permits. So there are thousands of pedestrian deaths. But there are also literally hundreds of millions of people who benefit from using vehicles. The majority of cars sold are crossovers or SUVs or pickups, and the benefit everyone gets from having these larger vehicles is far larger than the negatives from car-related deaths, whether it is pedestrians or others.
>A recent analysis by the Economist found that among the heaviest one percent of American cars, 12 people die inside smaller models for each person saved by the enormity of their vehicle.
What benefit exactly are hundreds of millions of people getting from having tall-grille cars? Many of these tall fronts are fake, they're taller than what is needed to fit the engine - purely an aesthetic choice, to give the look of a large and powerful machine.
Anecdotally, it's not just the size of the cars that makes them dangerous, it's the driving style of the people that buy them. When I look at how people drive in my area (a smaller town in Canada), it's very often the people in the biggest trucks that are the ones tailgating, speeding, crossing double lines to pass on a dangerous section, etc etc. I've never understood this. If anything, driving such an enormous car would make me extra careful.
Fondly remember me and 6 other guys picking up a Mazda Miata and spinning it around in the parking space.
Japan seems to be able to make the kei cars; perhaps we could finally change the laws preventing their sale here?
"According to federal data, the average new American car now weighs around 30 percent more than it did 40 years ago."
How has the size of the average American changed over the past 40 years?
Even if you accept this article’s factual claims to be true, the derived conclusion that the only fix is to downsize cars is ridiculous. Technology (like the resolution of cameras, accuracy of automatic braking, etc) can be improved. Drivers can be less distracted if they have physical controls instead of touchscreens. Pedestrians can choose to cross only when they have a walk sign instead of when they don’t. Street lighting can be improved (since most of these happen at night). And so on.
But I also don’t see why this is a problem worth addressing any faster than what technology permits. So there are thousands of pedestrian deaths. But there are also literally hundreds of millions of people who benefit from using vehicles. The majority of cars sold are crossovers or SUVs or pickups, and the benefit everyone gets from having these larger vehicles is far larger than the negatives from car-related deaths, whether it is pedestrians or others.
From the article:
>A recent analysis by the Economist found that among the heaviest one percent of American cars, 12 people die inside smaller models for each person saved by the enormity of their vehicle.
What benefit exactly are hundreds of millions of people getting from having tall-grille cars? Many of these tall fronts are fake, they're taller than what is needed to fit the engine - purely an aesthetic choice, to give the look of a large and powerful machine.