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> 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 serio

> 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.

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.