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They even had to change a decade old standard crash test to account for increase in weight and count of current style SUVs. IMO they should be banned as the cre

They even had to change a decade old standard crash test to account for increase in weight and count of current style SUVs. IMO they should be banned as the creeping normality will lead to all of us sitting in battle mechs eventually: https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/small-suvs-struggle-in-new-tougher-side-test https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/small-suvs-struggle-in-new-... https://youtu.be/3Lu-t5dJrxI https://youtu.be/3Lu-t5dJrxI

mike_d 4y ago
> creeping normality will lead to all of us sitting in battle mechs eventually You say that like it is a bad thing? The future sounds awesome!
- FieryTransition 4y ago
  Being a cyclist in a crash will be like swatting a fly against a windshield. But I guess that in the future, no one will drive themselves anyway. Whether due to automation or cost.
- gfaster 4y ago
  ...until you have to exist outside of a car, then it is downright terrifying (and extra deadly).
- pentae 4y ago
  Yeah i'd love to drive a battle mech that'd be amazing. And imagine how jealous the Moms down at soccer pickup would be!
lb1lf 4y ago
-SUVs aside, do keep in mind EVs are quite heavy compared to their ICE counterparts, too. (On the upside, I guess they, being newer, involve more passive safety for whatever they run into). For instance, my 20 year old Land Cruiser (Which I, perhaps engaging in a bit of semantic pedantry would call a 4x4, not a SUV) has a dry weight of pretty much 2 tons / 4,500lbs. A Nissan Leaf? 1,600kg/3,500lbs. (Tiny compared to the LC) Tesla Model S? 1,950-2,300kg / 4,300-5,000lbs (Still small compared to the LC)
- leaflets2 4y ago
  Height above the ground matters too: high cars hit pedestrians more on the chest, lower cars hit the legs. And high cars can roll over lower cars, making the deformation zone have no effect. Interesting anyway about weight. I'm thinking high cars should be forbidden ... Unless in terrain on the countryside.
- fulafel 4y ago
  EVs could be regulated (or incentivized) downards too, there exist much lighter EVs already. In Europe there are some sub-500 kg cars (eg Renault Twitzy). Not that this should be the limit necessarily, but there's plenty of room downwards in the design space.
Arnt 4y ago
Not all of us. I noticed more SUVs than ever last time I visited my parents-in-law. But where I live myself, the number of parking spots is shrinking and streets are being narrowed. A divide seems to be growing.
- paulgb 4y ago
  > streets are being narrowed I hope this works, but I've noticed more wide vehicles in my neighborhood parking with two wheels up on the sidewalk, like this. https://imgur.com/a/v0w3FMM https://imgur.com/a/v0w3FMM
  - dvfjsdhgfv 4y ago
    It depends on how many parking tickets you can afford.
  - Arnt 4y ago
    I've seen that too. But all praise capitalism, the market provides. There's also a new towing company here that reflects the, shall we say, shifting dynamic between residents and motorists. A neighbour called them when a so-and-so parked so closely to our entrance that I couldn't get the bike trailer out. The towing company took a few photos, towed, and sent the so-and-so an invoice for €600, which he eventually paid, but not without telling my neighbour what he thought. €600 is steep. They must expect to pay for court cases fairly often. Makes sense, parking like that was very rare 20 years ago.
    - Arnt 4y ago
      (I should perhaps note that I don't think my neighbour did it because of me or my bike trailer. He didn't tell me why, but I'd guess he had the car towed away because it bothered his 85yo father.)
- fennecfoxy 4y ago
  Streets being narrowed doesn't help as I myself have experienced the rise in SUVs in London, which has some very narrow streets :p In fact, my driving experience so far is that smaller cars are more likely to wait if it's too narrow, but people in larger cars barrel on thru bc they know that they'll intimidate drivers on the other side.
fennecfoxy 4y ago
They should really be banned/controlled, but they won't be. :/
FunnyBadger 4y ago
- jpambrun 4y ago
  People like you are the reason we can't trust people's judgement, why we need to take that choice away with laws.
- yowzadave 4y ago
  Your attitude that all accidents you are involved in will be the fault of other drivers, and that they will therefore deserve the lethal consequences, is a truly bleak data point. What about a child who darts into the street, who you have no hope of seeing because your vehicle is so tall? What about the cyclist who has a moment of inattention and ends up plastered to your grille? Is death the appropriate consequence for their actions? None of this is necessary; people can and do live in a better way in other places. Japan has fewer than a quarter of the traffic deaths per capita that the US has.
- elenaferrantes 4y ago
  Prisoners dilemma illustrated : you choose what you think is the optimal solution and end up with a degraded situation for everyone (including you).
  - lostmsu 4y ago
    The paper actually does not show that. It might well be that increasing weights of all cars 2x decreases fatalities 10x without changing relative fatality chances between cars with different weights.

mike_d 4y ago

> creeping normality will lead to all of us sitting in battle mechs eventually You say that like it is a bad thing? The future sounds awesome!

FieryTransition 4y ago
Being a cyclist in a crash will be like swatting a fly against a windshield. But I guess that in the future, no one will drive themselves anyway. Whether due to automation or cost.
gfaster 4y ago
...until you have to exist outside of a car, then it is downright terrifying (and extra deadly).
pentae 4y ago
Yeah i'd love to drive a battle mech that'd be amazing. And imagine how jealous the Moms down at soccer pickup would be!

lb1lf 4y ago

-SUVs aside, do keep in mind EVs are quite heavy compared to their ICE counterparts, too. (On the upside, I guess they, being newer, involve more passive safety for whatever they run into). For instance, my 20 year old Land Cruiser (Which I, perhaps engaging in a bit of semantic pedantry would call a 4x4, not a SUV) has a dry weight of pretty much 2 tons / 4,500lbs. A Nissan Leaf? 1,600kg/3,500lbs. (Tiny compared to the LC) Tesla Model S? 1,950-2,300kg / 4,300-5,000lbs (Still small compared to the LC)

leaflets2 4y ago
Height above the ground matters too: high cars hit pedestrians more on the chest, lower cars hit the legs. And high cars can roll over lower cars, making the deformation zone have no effect. Interesting anyway about weight. I'm thinking high cars should be forbidden ... Unless in terrain on the countryside.
fulafel 4y ago
EVs could be regulated (or incentivized) downards too, there exist much lighter EVs already. In Europe there are some sub-500 kg cars (eg Renault Twitzy). Not that this should be the limit necessarily, but there's plenty of room downwards in the design space.

Arnt 4y ago

Not all of us. I noticed more SUVs than ever last time I visited my parents-in-law. But where I live myself, the number of parking spots is shrinking and streets are being narrowed. A divide seems to be growing.

paulgb 4y ago
> streets are being narrowed I hope this works, but I've noticed more wide vehicles in my neighborhood parking with two wheels up on the sidewalk, like this. https://imgur.com/a/v0w3FMM https://imgur.com/a/v0w3FMM
- dvfjsdhgfv 4y ago
  It depends on how many parking tickets you can afford.
- Arnt 4y ago
  I've seen that too. But all praise capitalism, the market provides. There's also a new towing company here that reflects the, shall we say, shifting dynamic between residents and motorists. A neighbour called them when a so-and-so parked so closely to our entrance that I couldn't get the bike trailer out. The towing company took a few photos, towed, and sent the so-and-so an invoice for €600, which he eventually paid, but not without telling my neighbour what he thought. €600 is steep. They must expect to pay for court cases fairly often. Makes sense, parking like that was very rare 20 years ago.
  - Arnt 4y ago
    (I should perhaps note that I don't think my neighbour did it because of me or my bike trailer. He didn't tell me why, but I'd guess he had the car towed away because it bothered his 85yo father.)
fennecfoxy 4y ago
Streets being narrowed doesn't help as I myself have experienced the rise in SUVs in London, which has some very narrow streets :p In fact, my driving experience so far is that smaller cars are more likely to wait if it's too narrow, but people in larger cars barrel on thru bc they know that they'll intimidate drivers on the other side.

fennecfoxy 4y ago

They should really be banned/controlled, but they won't be. :/

FunnyBadger 4y ago

jpambrun 4y ago
People like you are the reason we can't trust people's judgement, why we need to take that choice away with laws.
yowzadave 4y ago
Your attitude that all accidents you are involved in will be the fault of other drivers, and that they will therefore deserve the lethal consequences, is a truly bleak data point. What about a child who darts into the street, who you have no hope of seeing because your vehicle is so tall? What about the cyclist who has a moment of inattention and ends up plastered to your grille? Is death the appropriate consequence for their actions? None of this is necessary; people can and do live in a better way in other places. Japan has fewer than a quarter of the traffic deaths per capita that the US has.
elenaferrantes 4y ago
Prisoners dilemma illustrated : you choose what you think is the optimal solution and end up with a degraded situation for everyone (including you).
- lostmsu 4y ago
  The paper actually does not show that. It might well be that increasing weights of all cars 2x decreases fatalities 10x without changing relative fatality chances between cars with different weights.