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As a 30 year old, I buy an SUV (well, a crossover, technically) because its a good average between efficiency and carrying capacity. I don't want to have to ren

As a 30 year old, I buy an SUV (well, a crossover, technically) because its a good average between efficiency and carrying capacity. I don't want to have to rent a U-Haul every time I move something bigger than a breadbox. Two adult homes can presumably have a big car and a small car, and prefer to take the most efficient choice for the given trip (and have the shorter commute take the less efficient vehicle), but generally, people need to occasionally move stuff around. It is, also, safer. I've seen what a minivan does to a Corolla, and I'd much rather be in something the size of a minivan. I sit higher, have better visibility, etc.

ken 7y ago
> It is, also, safer. I've seen what a minivan does to a Corolla, and I'd much rather be in something the size of a minivan. Looking at a crash between two vehicles of very different size isn't a fair test. Smaller cars are much more able to avoid getting into wrecks in the first place. We fully expect, simply based on mass, that vans will be better at passive safety, and worse at active safety.
- ocdtrekkie 7y ago
  Sometimes there's nothing you can do to avoid an accident with another driver. You can get in a crash standing still at an intersection. In an accident, the biggest car will win. If the average car on the road was a Mini Cooper I wouldn't worry about it. But with the prevalence of SUVs, anyone driving something smaller than a crossover is taking a big personal risk.
  - ken 7y ago
    From the research I've seen, that's not a significant factor. People aren't dying in their compact cars sitting at intersections. Sure, sometimes it happens -- and sometimes a semi or train hits you and even an SUV won't help. According to the IIHS, for example, the little 2-door Honda Civic has about the same fatality rate as the safest large SUVs. People in small cars aren't "taking a big risk". About as many people in America die of influenza as car crashes, so if you're driving an SUV but haven't gotten a free flu shot, I don't believe you're doing it out of some calculated risk assessment.
    - sdenton4 7y ago
      Flu deaths are concentrated on the very young and very old, though. The fundamental connection: people who drive SUVs and people who skip flu shots don't care about externalities.
      - ocdtrekkie 7y ago
        Indeed true that I'm extremely low risk for flu complications, though I live with someone at high risk, and should get flu shots now. It's not that I don't care about externalities, but that I'm going to weigh them against direct concerns. It's true driving an SUV might have a small percentage impact on the environment. It's also true that it slightly increases my chances of killing someone else in an accident. But if it significantly decreases the chance the person killed in said accident is my wife/kid, I'm going to prioritize that over the "dangers" SUVs provide to others.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
giancarlostoro 7y ago
Not sure why you are getting downvoted. I am in the same situation. If all electric SUVs werent priced for the upper class I would probably own one. Also if you have a big enough family there is no way to haul them around on a tiny car unless you shove some kids in the trunk. Besides. I am no boomer either.
IAmEveryone 7y ago
Congratulations for being part of the problem, then! This is a great example of how some people aren’t willing to trade even the smallest possible inconvenience, like having to rent on rare occasions, for public good.
dsfyu404ed 7y ago
>I don't want to have to rent a U-Haul every time I move something bigger than a breadbox. Thanks to ever more stringent rollover requirements modern vehicles can carry some pretty big things on the roof. You just have to ignore the part where people judge you for it (so I understand why people don't do it).

ken 7y ago

> It is, also, safer. I've seen what a minivan does to a Corolla, and I'd much rather be in something the size of a minivan. Looking at a crash between two vehicles of very different size isn't a fair test. Smaller cars are much more able to avoid getting into wrecks in the first place. We fully expect, simply based on mass, that vans will be better at passive safety, and worse at active safety.

ocdtrekkie 7y ago
Sometimes there's nothing you can do to avoid an accident with another driver. You can get in a crash standing still at an intersection. In an accident, the biggest car will win. If the average car on the road was a Mini Cooper I wouldn't worry about it. But with the prevalence of SUVs, anyone driving something smaller than a crossover is taking a big personal risk.
- ken 7y ago
  From the research I've seen, that's not a significant factor. People aren't dying in their compact cars sitting at intersections. Sure, sometimes it happens -- and sometimes a semi or train hits you and even an SUV won't help. According to the IIHS, for example, the little 2-door Honda Civic has about the same fatality rate as the safest large SUVs. People in small cars aren't "taking a big risk". About as many people in America die of influenza as car crashes, so if you're driving an SUV but haven't gotten a free flu shot, I don't believe you're doing it out of some calculated risk assessment.
  - sdenton4 7y ago
    Flu deaths are concentrated on the very young and very old, though. The fundamental connection: people who drive SUVs and people who skip flu shots don't care about externalities.
    - ocdtrekkie 7y ago
      Indeed true that I'm extremely low risk for flu complications, though I live with someone at high risk, and should get flu shots now. It's not that I don't care about externalities, but that I'm going to weigh them against direct concerns. It's true driving an SUV might have a small percentage impact on the environment. It's also true that it slightly increases my chances of killing someone else in an accident. But if it significantly decreases the chance the person killed in said accident is my wife/kid, I'm going to prioritize that over the "dangers" SUVs provide to others.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

giancarlostoro 7y ago

Not sure why you are getting downvoted. I am in the same situation. If all electric SUVs werent priced for the upper class I would probably own one. Also if you have a big enough family there is no way to haul them around on a tiny car unless you shove some kids in the trunk. Besides. I am no boomer either.

IAmEveryone 7y ago

Congratulations for being part of the problem, then! This is a great example of how some people aren’t willing to trade even the smallest possible inconvenience, like having to rent on rare occasions, for public good.

dsfyu404ed 7y ago

>I don't want to have to rent a U-Haul every time I move something bigger than a breadbox. Thanks to ever more stringent rollover requirements modern vehicles can carry some pretty big things on the roof. You just have to ignore the part where people judge you for it (so I understand why people don't do it).