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I grew up in a family of 6 and we never had cars as large as the ones on the market today and we were just fine. These larger cars actually have higher rates of

I grew up in a family of 6 and we never had cars as large as the ones on the market today and we were just fine. These larger cars actually have higher rates of getting into accidents so they're less safe for the people inside the car as well as for the people outside them. And just because there will be a need for bigger vehicles for a small set of use cases doesn't mean the majority of people should be driving in them day-to-day. (SUVs now make up about 50% of market share apparently)

kleiba 6y ago
Proof by example. Just because it worked well for your family growing up, that does not mean it does for everyone else. For instance, when I was a kid, there were all kinds of stores in walking distance from our house. All of them are now gone and replaced by much bigger stores on the outskirts of the same town. Also, my grandparents lived close-by, so my parents could drop us off quite easily if necessary. A lot of the things that could be done on foot now require some form of transportation in that area, and PT is too sparse to be a real alternative, especially when you have four children. If SUVs make up 50% of the market, it is not surprising that they get into accidents more, but of course it's unclear what exactly you mean by "higher rates". But in any event, just because they are involved in more accident does not mean that they're less safe for people inside the car - I would think that the safety features of elaborate cars are an order of magnitude more developed than those of these tiny three-wheelers. And those 50% of SUVs will not go away over night to be replaced by tiny cars. So that's why the reply to my original post makes little sense: as long as our streets are filled with huge cars, it's without a doubt more dangerous to drive along in a tiny one.
- kiliantics 6y ago
  Usually rates like this are calculated "per mile traveled" or using some other normalising factor to make them comparable. And yeah, I don't need to go get your citations for you but you are now using "I would think" rather than looking at numbers and I'm telling you that the numbers say they are less safe. They could go away pretty quickly if there was the political will. We have made large overhauls of societal infrastructure quickly in the past and we could do it again but people are too comfortable to take these matters seriously.

kleiba 6y ago

Proof by example. Just because it worked well for your family growing up, that does not mean it does for everyone else. For instance, when I was a kid, there were all kinds of stores in walking distance from our house. All of them are now gone and replaced by much bigger stores on the outskirts of the same town. Also, my grandparents lived close-by, so my parents could drop us off quite easily if necessary. A lot of the things that could be done on foot now require some form of transportation in that area, and PT is too sparse to be a real alternative, especially when you have four children. If SUVs make up 50% of the market, it is not surprising that they get into accidents more, but of course it's unclear what exactly you mean by "higher rates". But in any event, just because they are involved in more accident does not mean that they're less safe for people inside the car - I would think that the safety features of elaborate cars are an order of magnitude more developed than those of these tiny three-wheelers. And those 50% of SUVs will not go away over night to be replaced by tiny cars. So that's why the reply to my original post makes little sense: as long as our streets are filled with huge cars, it's without a doubt more dangerous to drive along in a tiny one.

kiliantics 6y ago
Usually rates like this are calculated "per mile traveled" or using some other normalising factor to make them comparable. And yeah, I don't need to go get your citations for you but you are now using "I would think" rather than looking at numbers and I'm telling you that the numbers say they are less safe. They could go away pretty quickly if there was the political will. We have made large overhauls of societal infrastructure quickly in the past and we could do it again but people are too comfortable to take these matters seriously.