sd_mike

The other issue with a larger vehicle, mass and inertia. Takes more to stop more mass, so even a slow impact has more energy. Not good. Before I rode every day to work, I would many days regret not taking the bicycle (traffic). Now, what traffic?

PaulRivers

Some people on this forum choose to ride bikes without brakes but that doesn't meant they're not crazy.

I'm just saying there's no moral or ethical argument for buying a car smaller than a civic/corolla, and I'd prefer to be safer rather than cheaper. Price, parking space, and hypermiling aren't moral or ethical issues. Mileage can be, but it's not an issue between minicars and small cars. In SUV's you have mileage, visibility (hitting someone because you can't see them), and causing more damage in a crash with your typical smaller vehicle. So there's some moral/ethic question about what you're driving depending on your values.

But don't get me wrong - I think you should be free to ride a motorcycle down the highways with no helmet - if something goes wrong you're only hurting yourself. Just saying there's no moral/ethical argument for the super tiny cars.

cod.peace

A great read on large vehicles, safety, and the rise of the SUV craze is "High and MIghty": https://www.amazon.com/High-Mighty-Da...5443821&sr=8-4

My fillup was $3/gallon for premium yesterday, gas is rising, and SUV sales still suck, so I think it's pretty safe to say the giant SUV craze is done. Too bad it'll be 20 years before most of them are off the road.

uke

First of all, your original post mentioned nothing of "morality" or "ethics". You mentioned safety, practicality, and fuel efficiency. I pointed out three areas where smaller cars provided an advantage, and your argument suddenly vamped into one about morality and ethics. If you're officially changing your argument, we'll go with what you've changed it to, but let's keep the change in mind.

That said, I'd still disagree.

Smaller cars take less material to produce and generally release fewer contaminants into the atmosphere. Smaller sizing also means less infrastructure needs to be devoted to parking spaces, and less money on road repair. Similarly, smaller cars are less likely to kill pedestrians (including children) in collisions than are larger vehicles; they're also less likely to run them over because they're often lower to the ground with better sightlines. There are plenty of "moral" and "ethical" reasons to reduce one's footprint as much as possible, and while subtle, there's still a difference between buying a subcompact and a compact car. If you think you'll be safer in a larger car, do what you have to do. It would be nice if you didn't attempt to portray it as an equivalently moral motorized vehicle, though, because A.) it's rather condescending, and B.) it's incorrect. The environmental impact of a car goes far beyond how many miles it obtains per gallon.

rwp

Gawd I used to hate big block Camaros!!! It's because I drove a small block Mustang.

drjava

Allstott,

How high are your headlights?

ALLSTOTT

from the ground to my real headlights is 65 inchs but i have another set of lights that sit under my bumper which produce the same light/pattern as my headlights... in case you were getting at the legal height of a headlight.