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it's so scary when i see people on the streets driving vehicles where they can barely see over the hood. like i can only see the top of their head when i'm faci

• jjulius 3y ago
  Similarly, it always weirds me out when I'm behind someone and can't see their head or at least part of their face in their rearview. Tells me that they probably can't see what's behind them.
• vineyardmike 3y ago
  > how on earth is anyone comfortable driving around not being able to see where they're going? Because they’re not the one that’s going to get hurt. But seriously, there’s some psychological thing going on with big cars. Like I drive a tiny car by American standards, and honestly don’t feel confident driving a big car, but I get it. You get to be higher up, which feels like you can see easily (even if objectively not true). It feels safer to drive a tank when every other car is huge (this is probably true). They have more storage, more space, which feels more comfortable. There’s probably nothing more damning than the incentive you have to be the biggest car on the road in case an accident happens. Of course intellectually it’s obvious that big cars make roads dangerous overall, they’re bad for the environment, they’re more expensive, they require a bigger garage, etc, but it’s hard to get past feelings and bad incentives.
  • MarkusWandel 3y ago
    Friends of ours who lived for a long time in Scandinavia occasionally get Scandinavian visitors. Two out of two times so far when they've dropped by with said visitors in their rental vehicle to borrow the canoe, the rental vehicle has been the absolutely biggest, bad-assest one they could get a hold of. The kind where you'd have to stand on a stool just to really look into the engine compartment. Why? Well, yes, it costs more to rent and more in fuel, but it's just so... something. Luckily here in Ontario, Canada, small cars are still somewhat normal, with about 1/3 of the road traffic being in the "compact car" class and certainly less than 1/3 in the "gratuitously huge truck/SUV" class. Most inbetween is compact SUVs and minivans.
    • Symbiote 3y ago
      Several friends and colleagues in Denmark have avoided driving in North America because the available cars were so huge. A colleague and I cancelled a rental for a work trip (took taxies instead) as the only vehicle they had was some huge pickup, which neither of us were willing to drive. I think it's far more common for Europeans to be put off from driving huge American vehicles than attracted to it.
  • david422 3y ago
    > Because they’re not the one that’s going to get hurt. It's the prisoners dilemna. 2 small cars crash, they are both better off. 1 big car and 1 small car crash, the big car is better off. 2 big cars crash, they are both worse off. People choose the big one.
• hospitalJail 3y ago
  >how on earth is anyone comfortable driving around not being able to see where they're going? Its not about comfort, its about style. We see this in the tech world too. You can get a high tech, cutting edge feature rich, low cost, easy to use device. Or you can get one that has the cool logo on the back that makes your text messages turn blue. It creates a negative externality because people are using outdated/dangerous/worse technology simply because its the style.
  • Izikiel43 3y ago
    Also, the one with the logo and blue messages has guaranteed software updates for like 5/6 years, has great performance and is very comfortable to use, but who cares about that right?
    • hospitalJail 3y ago
      >updates for like 5/6 years But its cracked by Pegasus and Apple cannot stop them. Updates where your data is being sent to the Apple homebase isnt a pro-consumer feature. Maybe Apple really is trying to stop Pegasus, but as a consumer, merely trying doesn't count. (Maybe it does if you are trying to rationalize your Veblen Good)
      • Izikiel43 3y ago
        I had android for years, and I got tired of the buggy experience after a year of usage, and dying when I needed the most. I switched to an iphone XR, and the phone worked perfectly for over 2 years, after which I gave it to another family member and I switched to a 13 pro. Are they expensive? For sure yes, if you go top of the line, but even an older one works perfectly fine for 99% of people needs, and they will save you time and headaches for several years. That's the selling point, they are easy to use, and last a long time (in tech world terms). "It just works" is not only marketing.
        • hospitalJail 3y ago
          What bugs and dying? Google assistant sucks, but thats about it. Dying? Anyway, still too risky because of pegasus. I have secrets. I basically have 0 options.
• bertil 3y ago
  I remember seeing a prankster passing in front of a car and miming stepping over a big obstacle. The driver looks concerned and steps out to check. Laughs. Until I realized: they genuinely had to. The driver was not checking because they saw the guy jumping over nothing and were confused: they literally could not see what was below that guy’s belt. It’s one of those things (like “ads for tax prep software” or “kindergarten-appropriate shooter drill”) that feels quaint where you don’t connect the dots because you don’t know the country, but when you do…
  • kayodelycaon 3y ago
    It's really at the point where you need a bunch of cameras to get a 360° view of what's around your car. I'd never realized how bad the visibility was before having a car with that feature. I'm surprised I haven't run over anything important in all of the years I've been driving.
    • bertil 3y ago
      If you want a violent contrast, cycling is out there. Most cars feel like submarines after riding a bike.
  • HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
    In 1990 I watched a pickup truck crush its radiator into a parking bollard that the driver couldn't see. This is by no means a new problem.
• barbazoo 3y ago
  Also stuff on the dash like stuffies, religious paraphernalia, darkened windows, it's clear that some people don't care about seeing others.