These things are less safe, yet I see people driving aggressively and recklessly more than ever.
because they’re safer for the drivers
Not if they crash into stationary objects like rocks, etc. In that case the amount of force the driver will experience will be 2-3 times higher compared to the amount of force a driver of a normal sedan will experience if he had the same accident.
But yeah, those trucks are getting ridiculously big and heavy. They are not only bad for the environment, they are bad for the roads and other drivers and pedestrians. I am living in Europe and it is really infuriating that those cars are like 1.5 times a normal car and then you can’t even find a parking spot.
Not if they crash into stationary objects like rocks, etc. In that case the amount of force the driver will experience will be 2-3 times higher compared to the amount of force a driver of a normal sedan will experience if he had the same accident.
this is not true, the deceleration (g force) imparted to passengers should be the same in either case. (all other things being equal, initial speed, crumple zones, etc). adding more mass to the car is irrelevant to the driver if you’re hitting a truly immovable object.
force = mass x acceleration.
giant vehicles have more mass.
yes, the force applied to THE ROCK will be much higher, but the car’s mass is not relevant to the driver’s reference inside the car.
I went to this train and automobile museum place in Maine. Podunk little place, but pretty cool and they really did have a lot of old cars to look at.
What shocked me was the size of the cars. Like huge ford expedition max trunk bigger than a pickup’s bed size.
Then I thought about the cars of the 70s and 80s. My old man’s Cutlass Supreme could easily fit 6 and had a huge trunk. God help you if your auntie drove a station wagon - there might have been a dozen kids piled into that sucker going to the beach.
Then I look at current suvs. They are pretty small comparatively speaking. I can’t get 5 into my grand Cherokee comfortably. Ya there are some huge suvs, but they aren’t the norm. The mini suvs are more common.
My unpopular opinion - the new “car” is an suv. And they have gotten smaller over the years, not bigger.
I disagree. They have gotten smaller on the inside. Totally agree in that. But the rest of the vehicle is definitely larger…and heavier. Look at a corolla today vs. there 80’s. It’s the size of a Camry back in the day. Trucks and SUVs, too. They don’t fit in garages now. Remember mini trucks? Well no more.
I think to meet safety standards, they have more crumple zones. Plus they have more features, which take up space the passengers would normally use. Finally I think people just like larger vehicles. Maybe they feel safer, even if they aren’t or they like the intimidation factor. I don’t know.
Trucks are larger because of the footprint of the wheels is large enough, they have to meet different efficiency standards. But I think a lot of that was driven by manufacturer.
also SUVs became the new minivan because minivans aren’t cool. with an suv you can cosplay as an off-roader who drives uphill through snow both ways to work and back.
I agree, but I was making a different point. I think most people drove larger CARS, but today most people drive SUVs. And today’s SUVs are smaller than the cars of the past. Yes any particular model seems to have gotten bigger - but I think people in general are in smaller vehicles than they were when I was a kid.
I drove a 73’ Impala in HS, that thing was bigger than a F250 today…
Maybe that perception is skewed by America’s culture of having ridiculously large cars. European cars were always smaller, but nowadays it’s getting pretty hard to buy something other than an SUV here, too.
I shouldn’t need to say that not only natural gas bad, but oil also bad
The easy answer is because that’s all they freakin’ make now.
I see. I’m confused by this too. When I was young vans were popular and station wagons were definitely more prominent. Vans fell out of popularity presumably because they were built on a truck chassis. Minivans drove better. Station wagons also fell out of favor. I guess because they were too family truckster.
So what happens? SUVs become popular which are basically station wagons built on a truck chassis. Go figure.
Station wagons were subject to sedan emissions standards. SUVs wer subject to truck emission standards.
Idk if it’s still on but at some point in Poland people were installing grates in the back of front seats because it legally made the car (even something like Daewoo Tico) into a truck which allowed tax benefits.
But few people but a car based on emissions, so why then did SUVs become popular? Or is it the case of manufacturers wanted us to like SUVs, so they made that happen.
People don’t buy cars based on emissions. Car makers make them based on emissions because lower requirements are easier to meet while including things people do want.
Literally cooking the planet for next quarters metrics.
I think we’re saying the same thing.
