Trade your gas guzzler for a high MPG car?

[Patman]

So it would appear that mkelly and Solid State advocate everyone driving around in Excursions? What about an Excursion vs Mack cement truck crash? Now we all need to drive cement trucks. Or maybe something larger like a Euclid? I mean we wouldn't want to being a knife to a gun fight so you might as well bring a nuke right? :laugh:

Lets look at this from something other than a myoptic perspective. What happens when gas goes to $8.00 per gallon? Keep on driving that Excursion 40 miles each way to work? Feed your kids every other day? The reality is living takes money and right now the average family is spending at least double what they were just a few years ago on gas not to mention home energy. I know my paycheck has not kept pace with the energy costs and my drive hasn't gotten any shorter.

I've been in a couple of insanely serious accidents both caused by other impared drivers. One when I was 4 and we were in a 1967 Pontiac with miles of heavy chrome and sheetmetal. My mother was in the hospital for 9 months, sure we lived and MAYBE it would have been worse in a small car but the other guy was driving a Euclid! Yeah really!! Fast forward 38 years and we were in a head on crash in my brother in laws little Blazer with a large (not midsize) GM car. Again there were injuries on both sides but we went home that evening and he was in the hospital for several weeks. You can't believe you will always be in a fatal or near fatal accident, if you do then just stay home because being in a bigger vehicle may or may not work to your advantage.

The better solution is to avoid accidents which most people generally do. When I drive my Miata (did I mention I also have 2 MG Midgets) I am the ultimate defensive driver because I know most people are too busy talking on their cell phones or have their head up their butt day dreaming of course it is no different than when I drive my F150 when I also am very alert to what is going on around me because in either case I have no control over the other drivers but I do have control over the situations I put my vehicle in relative to those other drivers.

 

[mkelly04]

So it would appear that mkelly and Solid State advocate everyone driving around in Excursions? What about an Excursion vs Mack cement truck crash? Now we all need to drive cement trucks. Or maybe something larger like a Euclid? I mean we wouldn't want to being a knife to a gun fight so you might as well bring a nuke right? :laugh:

Lets look at this from something other than a myoptic perspective. What happens when gas goes to $8.00 per gallon? Keep on driving that Excursion 40 miles each way to work? Feed your kids every other day? The reality is living takes money and right now the average family is spending at least double what they were just a few years ago on gas not to mention home energy. I know my paycheck has not kept pace with the energy costs and my drive hasn't gotten any shorter.

I've been in a couple of insanely serious accidents both caused by other impared drivers. One when I was 4 and we were in a 1967 Pontiac with miles of heavy chrome and sheetmetal. My mother was in the hospital for 9 months, sure we lived and MAYBE it would have been worse in a small car but the other guy was driving a Euclid! Yeah really!! Fast forward 38 years and we were in a head on crash in my brother in laws little Blazer with a large (not midsize) GM car. Again there were injuries on both sides but we went home that evening and he was in the hospital for several weeks. You can't believe you will always be in a fatal or near fatal accident, if you do then just stay home because being in a bigger vehicle may or may not work to your advantage.

The better solution is to avoid accidents which most people generally do. When I drive my Miata (did I mention I also have 2 MG Midgets) I am the ultimate defensive driver because I know most people are too busy talking on their cell phones or have their head up their butt day dreaming of course it is no different than when I drive my F150 when I also am very alert to what is going on around me because in either case I have no control over the other drivers but I do have control over the situations I put my vehicle in relative to those other drivers.

When did I say everyone should buy the biggest vehicle possible?

I just said that even though the smart car gets a 4/3 star crash rating that does not mean it is a safe car. I was just trying to point that out so that people could be informed. I have nothing against people driving small cars, hell I ride a motorcycle to work everyday. It just seems like there is a lot of misconceptions about small car safety.



On a related note I actually drove a smart car yesterday....... Without a doubt it has the lowest build quality and materials out of any car I have ever driven. For 17k+ you would really have to want to save gas badly.

 

[whenfoxforks-ruled]

Oh sure, now your going to isinuate that motorcycles are dangerous? I had better find that tinfoil hat!

 

[BSWIFT]

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourCar/SmallerCarBiggerInsuranceBill.aspx

"But does a smaller vehicle equate to smaller car insurance rates? The answer, surprisingly, is usually no.

According to Insure.com's research on auto insurance rates, switching from a larger vehicle to a small car such as a Civic or a Prius is likely to raise your insurance premium:"

Regardless of this, I can't put a six foot step ladder in a Prius or a Civic. The service and transportation industries will have no choice to pass the cost on to everyone else. Think a service call from a plumber is expensive now? The lag in service rates won't be long. All service industry folks I know are raising rates, adding surcharges, and they continue to re-evaluate daily. If you don't have spare keys to your cars or house, next time your out you had better get some good duplicates. A service call to make keys for a late model vehicle will like cost you more than $200 during regular business hours and more than $300 after hours.

"Small cars tend to increase insurance costs because they get into more crashes," says Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "There's a myth that a smaller car is more nimble and helps you avoid crashes, but smaller cars tend to have more collision losses."

"Little cars with smaller bills
The Mini Cooper, Volkswagen New Beetle and Volkswagen Golf are small cars that stay at "average" or better for all loss categories, according to the highway institute. Here, though, lower insurance losses may not be due to the car design but the fact that they tend to be driven by more-experienced drivers.

"There's a big safety downside to moving to a smaller car because you're putting yourself at more risk of injury," Rader says. "It all boils down to the laws of physics: People think about safety features like air bags, but no matter how many air bags you stuff into a smaller car, it's not going to be as safe as a larger, heavier vehicle."

Of course, whatever vehicle you drive, the vehicle model is only one of many factors that go into the price of your policy. Your own driving record, claims history and location significantly affect your premium."

PS: Sorry about the cut-n-paste.

 

[ericz103]

I'm with patman.
The more people that suck it up and drive a smaller fuel efficient vehicle, and are aware of the risk of dbags not paying attention in large vehicles, the smaller the problem gets.

I didn't get a street motorcyle for a long time because of safety fears, gas prices finally swayed me into getting one. Now I hardly ever drive the truck except to go ride the dirt scooter. I do my best and to be alert and defensive, and if something happens, oh well, poop happens, its a changing world, at least I know I did my part. :cool:

 

[motocross3]

its pretty obvious that a larger vehicle will protect you more in a crash. not to long ago we were in our bronco, its completly stock, no lift or anything and had a wreck with a pt cruiser, so its not even a small car. he came around a corner and smashed into the driver side rear corner panel, it broke the grill, headlight, bent the hood, bent the fender, and broke the guys arm in the pt cruiser. while all it did to us was a medium sized dent and bent bumper.

 

[Solid State]

Just imagine with those tiny cars, you don't need a casket either. Look how much more money your family will save.

I sold my street bike a long time ago. Hitting back-top hurts - a lot.

Try this formula out if you think all the quotes from the industry specialists above are wrong: F= M x A. Force increases linearly with Mass. Crumple zones and air bags exist because of this basic equation. They don't eliminate it and at some point won't make any difference in the outcome given enough Force. Face it guys - bigger is better (unless you hit a stationary object, then it works against you).