Is the risk of driving small worth it?

[GasSavers_maximilian]

I'd like to see a light car that has a large trunk in front specifically to provide more crumple area.

[theholycow]

I'd like to see that car for its utility.

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by theclencher

Well while everybody else is dreaming of crashing into each other, I'll be practicing safe driving. No cell phones, etc. And due to all the bicycling, scootering, and motorcycling I do, I treat the others on the road as if they are out to get me. That has already prevented many situations that could have been a whole lot worse.

that there's funny, i don't care who ya are!

my deliveries dictate driving a VERY large vehicle thru parking lots. people on cell phones WALKING are even a menace. they lose hearing and vision while on the phone. my truck is 22ft long, 11 ft tall and has almost the decibals of a jet, yet they can't see or hear me!

[theclencher]

Originally Posted by maximilian

I'd like to see a light car that has a large trunk in front specifically to provide more crumple area.

Jeezus max, you need to get out more.

Look up: VW, Corvair, NSU, Porsche...

[Jay2TheRescue]

Bowtieguy: I used to drive the largest size step van Chevrolet made when I worked for the Gov't. A lady had hit me one day, and I was shocked to hear her say that she didn't see me. What??? I was stopped, and in a huge, white van the size of a school bus, and she didn't see me!

[GasSavers_JoeBob]

To answer your question of "Is the risk of driving small worth it?" I would guess the answer is a personal choice. Do you want to save gas, save money, starve a terrorist, keep more dollars in our economy, be able to maneuver out of the way of danger, contribute less to global warming and more to your child's college education, OR do you really feel safer in that Hummer? And is safety what life is all about?

[R.I.D.E.]

The problem I have with large vehicles is they are usually the worst drivers.
Today we drove to the indoor Mall to walk around and get some exercise. The temps were in the mid 90s and the humidity was high enough to make walking outside very uncomfortable.

I had a Chevy Suburban tailgating me, on the Interstate, at two car lengths in the right lane in very heavy traffic. I had some distance between me and the car in front, so he passed me on the right in the acceleration lane from an on ramp.

Then he climbs up on the arse of another compact car at less than two lengths at 65 MPH. I was going between 63 and 65 MPH, not slowing traffic down at all.

I wish every aggressive large vehicle driver was required to drive a motorcycle with a dump truck all over his arse for two months.

Not an indictment of anyone here. I doubt this forums members would drive like that anyway, but almost without exception, every stupid driver I see is driving a large truck or SUV, at least 90% of them.

It seems like an arms race with the bigger marbles acting like they know the smaller marbles really don't have a chance in any collision.

regards
gary

[GasSavers_maximilian]

We've all (myself included) been talking about this like the risk of Snax's original specific question can't be estimated, but it can (at least in theory). Anybody know a place where we could find out the relative risk of a Fortwo vs another, larger car is in statistical terms? Then we just need to adjust the risk of an average American dying in a car crash by that amount and add it to the risk of dying (and maybe being seriously injured if we can find a source) for any reason and see what the difference is. Whether or not the difference is worth it or not is up to Snax, but it'd be a start.

[theclencher]

OK once upon a time I ran the numbers for odds of becoming a fatality on the road. It was something ridiculous like, you'd have to drive 50,000 miles/year for 600 years.

Find a real cause already.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

I'll take nimble, Marvin's score is about 12 "non-contact" incidents where slight driver inattention, bad maintenance of the running gear, low tire pressures etc would have resulted in a hit, Wile-E's score is 4 or 5.

edit: that's in avoidance of stray unsupervised idiots by the way, not utility poles leaping out to attack me..... though that did happen once....