Quote:
Originally posted by Chui
However, there is no viable transportation method for the average US family outside of station wagons [there aren't really any] and SUVs. How would you transport your wife and three kids? Not in a medium-sized sedan you wouldn't.
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If someone can't carry a family of two adults (including driver) and three children in a medium-sized sedan, it's time to ask if any or all of those family members need to go on a diet.
My family has always had small to medium sized cars and seemed to survive quite o.k. (we're not super small either - my brother is 6'4"). We've carried 3-4 passengers in 1.3-2.0L cars and even towed a small boat on the boat trailer behind. Yes, contrary to popular belief it is possible to tow a boat without a large SUV!!!!
I'm currently driving a 2.2L company car and my three kids sit in the back o.k. The only reason I might get a larger car is to tow a racecar on a trailer.
Quote:
Originally posted by GTV27
...the lack of adequate crumple zones (in most of them) will mean they impose worse damage on occupants than would otherwise be the case
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It's not true that SUVs have no crumple zone - the crumple zone is your Honda, Toyota, Ford Focus/Mondeo or whatever small-midsize car. The SUV buyer has made a decision that in the event of an accident he/she intends to kill you in order to save his/her own neck - then he/she increases the probability of that happening, by following one metre behind your rear bumper.
Let's not even get started on bull bars....
It's all very well to talk about personal freedom, but I don't think the majority of the idiots who drive these things, should have the personal freedom to use me as their crumple zone. At least not until they can show a genuine need for a heavy vehicle with off road capability and have passed a suitable advanced drivers license - just as a truck driver is required to pass a heavy traffic license before he drives a truck.