badquarter t1_j8a0rv9 wrote
What if they need it for work or have a large family? Sounds like something that's progressive that will be regressive in practice.
Ben10Button t1_j8a1cnc wrote
Other developed countries seem to do just fine with smaller vehicles
scubastefon t1_j8a2bsm wrote
On average, they’re all skinnier than we are also.
SyndicalistCPA OP t1_j8a3ryb wrote
Registration fees are barely $200 when used (should really be more). I'm pretty sure a business can easily pay for that.
The average family-size in the US is 3.15 and 3.17 in NJ. A regular 4 car Honda Civic holds 5 people. How large do you want to make this "large family" in your hypothetical. How much more catering should we do to people's individual choices?
On top of being more dangerous for pedestrians, including large families, they also wear down our roads much quicker.
Shit, just look at the electric Hummer. 9K pounds, 0-60 in 3 seconds. How that thing is even legal while I cannot drive an electric golf cart is beyond me.
objectimpermanence t1_j8b2eru wrote
People like to say that the choice to buy an SUV is driven by practicality.
But minivans and station wagons are amazingly practical while also being less harmful to other road users and less likely to rollover than a top-heavy SUV. But they get ignored because SUVs are cool and minivans and station wagons are not.
What sucks is that huge, heavy EVs like the Hummer EV are going to create a domino effect that will force other classes of cars to get bigger.
Crash tests are being redesigned to account for the emergence of heavier, taller vehicles. That means that smaller cars will need to be beefed up (i.e., get larger and more expensive) in order to protect their passengers.
This new test by the IIHS is a great example of that. It was designed to better simulate the impact from a truck or SUV than prior tests. Popular cars like the Camry and Altima performed poorly on this new test and, as a result, Toyota and Nissan essentially have no choice but to make next the generation of those cars larger and heavier in order to get good safety ratings.
SyndicalistCPA OP t1_j8b5d1s wrote
Thanks for the article on the crash test. Looking forward to reading it tomorrow.
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